And Then One Day
by othersider
Summary: ...and then one day the world went boom. **Multiple characters and pairings present** (For Whumptober 2019. Each chapter is titled for a different prompt)
1. Explosion

Veg-notables: This one kind wrote itself and I wrote it a$$ backwards starting with the end and filling in the rest. It ended up longer than I expected so I apologize in advance for the word spewage - The boys wanted to banter so I let 'em.

As always, thanks to gumnut-logic on tumblr for her help hashing out the plot.

Blanket warning: Its gonna get hot.

Characters: Virgil, Alan, Scott and Johnny.

Whumptober - TaG universe

Prompt 2. Explosion

Enjoy…

oOo

"Thunderbird Two to command"

"Go ahead, V. What's your status?"

"Hey, we're almost done on the South end of the factory but it's slow going. The smoke and the super structure of this place is screwing with our scans so we're having to back track."

"I'll see if there's anything John can do on his end to clear it up. Find anything?"

Virgil shook his head before he realized that Scott couldn't see him. "It's what I haven't found that disturbing me. What the hell happened to the fire suppression system?"

"Not sure. Both John and the GDF confirmed this facility was registered as meeting requirements on its last inspection. It's a question I am going to be posing to the CEO once he's done showboating for the media hounds."

"Well, wait for me. I would love to hear the answer."

He got a chuckle from the other end of the open comm. "I'll see what I can do. Get back at it and check in with me in five.. Or if you find anything."

"Will do." The comm channel clicked off and Virgil turned as his youngest brother appeared in the doorway at his back with a tote bag full of suppression grenades.

They were making their way through what was left of a chemical manufacturing plant that had seen better days. They'd received a request for assistance in the early hours of the morning as flames had shot some fifty feet above the roof line. The noxious fumes of the burning cocktail of who knew what that wafted out had been pushed by a North Eastern to the neighbouring township. Forcing the local services to call for the immediate evacuation of the 8, 962 residents.

During the course of the evacuation Scott had been roped into help shuttle while Virgil and Alan had stayed behind to help with containment. For the most part, the fire was out due to their specialized gear and a fire retardant foam that Brains had concocted for just this scenario.

Now though they had to pick their way through the smoldering remains to search for survivors who could be holed up in any of the emergency fire shelters that were scattered around the confusing maze of corridors that made up the complex.

The installation of a mobile ventilation system was doing it best to clear out the contaminants and particulates polluting the air but the smoke still hung heavy over the hulking, burnt out husk of a factory which meant that Virgil and Alan had to do the majority of the foot work themselves.

The place had to be cleared back to the GDF before they would risk the lives of any of the local crews on clean up.

"How's our inventory?" He asked by way of greeting and turned to focus on the holographic schematics of the building that were hovering above his wrist unit.

"Depleting but we should have enough." Alan dropped the bag at his brother's feet and started redistributing the spherical concussion bombs into Virgil's bag. "We'll have to start using these sparingly."

Virgil rubbed a hand over his sooty visor, "Well, looks like the fire is contained in this section. Should just be a matter of snuffing out hotspots to prevent flare ups from here on out.

Alan nodded in understanding and pushed up to his feet. His eyebrow cocked when he noticed a look passed over Virgil's face. He stepped closer in inquiry. "You get something?"

Virgil's brows furrowed in concentration. "Not sure, think I saw a blip over in the North East corner, back by the biochem labs."

"We went through there though." His brother stated. "The area was clear."

"We must have missed something." Grabbing his bag off the floor, Virgil flung it over his shoulder. "Better go back and check it out again. This place had a lot of staff and the numbers haven't come in from the department supervisors yet. We can't be sure everyone got out."

Alan managed to just barely suppress a pout and Virgil bumped his shoulder brotherly as he stepped around him. "Come on, Rocket Boy. Sooner we get this done the sooner you will be back home killing Zombies and scarfing down veggie sticks."

Virgil grinned as his brother grumbled out. "It's Rocket Man, thank you very much."

"Hey Squirt, when you can see over the dash of Two I'll start referring to you as 'Man'.. Until then, you're stuck." He dodges a swat from his baby brother. Friendly ribbing aside they had a job to do but it helped relieve some of the stress.

Back on task, they headed out back down the blackened corridor, ducking under hanging ceiling lights and stepped over fallen ceiling tiles and other assorted debris.

The track back across the rat's maze of hallways and cross corridors, through disengaged mag-locked doors and over a rather rickety catwalk that spanned ash covered vats; their tops having blown off during the blaze, took far longer than Virgil would have liked.

He knew they were running low on time with the GDF circling outside looking for answers and the local authorities eager to start their investigation into the cause of the fire and Virgil needed to find a way to pick up their pace.

Stopping to orient himself, Virgil check his wrist comm again. "This place is way too complicated for a private sector supplier." He said this off handedly and wasn't expecting a response back in kind from the blonde at his six. He got one anyways.

"Maybe it's a top secret government think tank where they brew up all sorts of crazy potions for world domination."

Virgil snorted and nodded off to the left. "Down here." Flicking on his shoulder mount, the high powered beam lit up the windowless corridor. "Ya right. Do you honestly think the Black Suits would let us in here if it were. Even with our affiliations with the GDF we would be lucky to get within ten miles of this place."

"Cover up." Alan tossed out with a shrug. "Who really knows how these government spook organizations work."

Virgil shook his head and turned down a short set of stairs and stopped abruptly at a large set of blast doors. "You spend way too much time surfing the conspiracy sites."

"Everyone needs a hobby."

Rolling his eyes, he tapped his comm line open. "Scott, we got something."

"10-4. Talk to me "

Virgil knew his brother was following their progress from his 'bird along with John floating around up in space. "Looks like another fire proof room but I can't find it on the schematics."

John's voice cut in with no preamble. "Those were the ones that were provided to the local planning board with the factories last retrofit. They should be up to date."

"Well, from where I am standing," Virgil rapped a padded knuckle on the heavy door, "They are inaccurate and I can't get a read on what's on the other side. "

"One moment," John sounded a bit peeved. Virgil knew he hated inaccuracy and the ineptitude of lazy people not doing their jobs, making stupid mistake drove him bat shit crazy.

Virgil inspected the door and the surrounding area and pointed back down the corridor. "Check around the corner and see if there is an electrical closet would ya? Or a service panel? Door this big is magnetically sealed so a power relay is needed. "

"Like it would be on this side of it? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose?" Alan asked

"If it's not in use it will be powered from out here for maintenance purposes. Once activated though its self sufficient and it disconnects from the external source for preventative reasons." Like opening up to a massive blaze or a toxic chemical spill.

Alan zipped off around the corner, his comm line active so they could keep in communication with one another as per S.O.P when on site.

"What do you think is in there?" Alan's voice sounded in his ear, he was still close enough that it echoed a bit with a tiny time delay as it went through their secure network.

Virgil tweaked the volume and went back to inspection the door and the coded palm reader that was a charred mess to the right of it. "First guess is it's another fire room but considering its not on spec…who knows."

Scott's voice chimed in, "I'm done playing taxi. Last patient has been dropped at the next closest hospital. I'll have a word with the CEO and Colonel Casey when I am back on site in ten.. Get us some answers as to what the hell is going on."

"Roger that."

Alan appeared back at his side. "Nothing."

Virgil frowned at the door and ripped the charred panel from the wall to expose the mass of surprisingly undamaged wires behind it. "This isn't adding up.."

Pulling out a network access key from his baldric, Virgil started pulling wires. "Hey Johnny, I got a hack job for you if your done angrily tearing the local civil servants a new one."

"Patch me in."

"Yup, working on it now. " Stripping a few wires, he tested to see if there was power to them and hooked them up to the small device. "You find the idiot that misfiled those docs?"

"Not yet," Came the disgruntled sigh of annoyance. "Eos is working on it."

"Ouch.. that's gonna hurt." Virgil could hear the evil glee in the red heads voice and almost felt sorry for the poor bastard that was going to get steam rolled once he was found.

The small device in his hand flared to life and just as suddenly the door before him hissed as the locking system released. "Wow, that was fast."

"That wasn't me."

Virgil blinked and locked eyes with Alan. "Understood, keep an eye on things for me would ya? We're going in."

"Be careful, Thunderbird Two. Picking up weird anomalies from the other side."

"Roger, stand by."

It took both of them to pull the heavy door open, boots finding little purchase on the foam slickened floor. Braced against the wall with one final heave the mighty steel portal swung up just wide enough for them to pass through one at a time. Standing in the opening, Virgil peered into the space beyond, eyes narrowing when a curious distortion caused the air to waver

Virgil's eyes widened as what he was seeing registered with the still smoldering remnants in the corridor. He only had seconds to push Alan out of the way before all hell broke loose.

The ensuing conflagration of heat knocked the breath from Virgil's lungs as he was tossed like a rag doll through burning ozone. The sudden and abrupt stop as his body met wall caused pain to burst across his whole nervous system and left him a whimpering heap on the floor.

The world grayed out around the edges but one thing kept him just his side of blissful oblivion, the thought of his little brother.

By sheer force of will he commanded his lungs to start working again and with a reserve of energy he didn't know he had, he lifted his torso off the floor, stars flashing across his retinas.

Coughing, he dragged himself across the floor ears straining against the buzz of a million bees as he called out for his sibling. His voice hoarse and tinny to his whirring ear drums.

"Alan! Thunderbird Two to anyone!" He was panicking and he knew it wasn't helping but he had to find his baby brother. "Alan, god where are you? Answer me"

The visibility was completely next to none existent as smoke billowed out from whatever the room behind the blast doors had been. Flames scorching and white hot licked with renewed strength up the previously foamed walls with a growing intensity that he could feel through the protection of his fire gear and sweat trickled down the length of his spine. He had to get them out of here.

Oh god, where was his brother?

"Scott? Scott, I can't find Allie…" Padding around on all fours as close to the ground as he could he reached out in every direction. Pushing singed debris and refuse out to the way as he search.

Coughing again, a fine spray of blood peppered across his visor but he wouldn't give up, he couldn't.

The hand that landed suddenly on his shoulder had his heart stuttering to a stop in his throat. The flash of familial red kick started it back over again.

"Allie, oh thank God."

"I'm okay but my comms are down. We gotta get out of here."

Virgil nodded his agreement. Pushing up to a crouch, hell fire raining down around them, he look left and right to try and gauge the best direction to take. He gave his head a shake when the world grayed out around the edges of his vision and shot a hand out to brace himself against his brother's shoulder.

"You okay, Virg?"

An odd expression passed over Virgil's face as time seemed to crawl to a stop. The flames of the fire all around them stilling, the heat fading away and an odd, surreal chill slowly encompassed his body, radiating up his torso and slowly suffusing his limbs.

His thoughts grew distance as the center of the chill started to thaw with an excruciating burn and he looked down. What the…?The echo of confusion cut off abruptly as his gloved hand came away dark and wet.

"Oh god. Virgil, hang on.." Were the last words he heard before Earth reared up and hit him hard.

oOo


	2. Delirium

Veg-notables: This one was quick and dirty.

As always, thanks to gumnut-logic on tumblr cause she just rocks and I love bouncing ideas off of her.

Blanket warning: Ouchie

Characters: Scooter, the Squid and an unresponsive Virgil.

Whumptober - TaG universe

3\. Delirium

Enjoy…

oOo

Scott jumped up from the floor and threw himself across the bed. Bearing down all his weight on the flailing arms of his fevered sibling.

Gritting his teeth with pain as an errant elbow nailed him hard in the gut he held on for dear life. "Virgil, calm down!" He grunted out. "Jesus Christ, Gordon. Hurry up with that… shot. Much more of this…and his going to pull out his sutures"

"I know." His brother barked back, working quickly to load the syringe and grabbing at the IV line that was flapping about all over the place. "God, he's gonna pull his line if he keeps this up."

"Get the damn drugs in him!"

Scrambling, Gordon did just that. The drug dispersed down the line and into the pallid arm of his sickly brother. Almost instantly the drugs effect took hold of the mass of ailing, hysterical muscle and Virgil went limp below Scott's straining limbs. His frantic eyes rolled and his lids drooped as he flopped bonelessly back against the bedding.

Chest heaving, Scott dared not move for fear the crazed panic would resurface.

Sparing a glance in Gordon's direction, he looked him over. The aquanaut's eye had the tell tale signs of one hell of a shinner developing and by the way his brother was hunched over, Scott wouldn't be surprised that a kidney was bruised. "You okay?" He asked though he could hazard a guess at the answer by the haunting glint in the squid's eyes.

"Fuck no"

He didn't bother admonishing him for his language. He was harboring the same thoughts but he couldn't bring himself to voice them. A flair of envy at the younger man ease of use briefly flashed through him but he quickly pushed it aside. It wasn't a priority at the moment and wouldn't be of any help.

Looking down at the heap below him Scott loosened his hold minutely and laid his fingers on the inside of a thick wrist. Feeling the steady but sluggish beat he let a sigh slip past his lips and his shoulders sagged in relief.

"Scott?"

"He's out" Confirming his findings with the read out displayed beside the bed. "Temp is still up though and his stats are low."

"Scott?" The tone of the questions brought Scott's head around.

"He'll be okay, Gordo. Just a close call." Peeling back a corner of gauze Scott winced at the angry, oozing red wound.

A tense silence enveloped the room and Scott could feel Gordon's eyes weighing heavily on him. To avoid making eye contact he turned his attention to the display, eyes flickering over the data, down to Virgil and back up again.

Considering what he knew with what he wanted, he absently chewed on the inside of his cheek. The sinking feeling hurt more than his own physical bruises.

Shoulders tensing, he took Virgil's unresponsive hand in his own.

"Prep Two for launch and have John get in contact with Auckland. We have a medical emergency and we will be coming in hot."

oOo


	3. Human Shield

Veg-notables: Ya.. so this happened… sorry in advance.

As always, thanks to gumnut-logic on tumblr cause she just rocks and is a great parachute-less cliff diving instructor…

Blanket warning: Please don't hit me, I had no control over where this one went. It's all the TaG bois fault.. They made me do it….

Characters: Alan, Kayo, Scott and a Vegetable

Whumptober - TaG universe

4\. Human Shield

Enjoy…

oOo

God, why had he done it? The question circled about in Alan's head endlessly and he was no closer to the answer then he had been when he parked his ass in the hard plastic seat at his brother's bedside.

With a groan of displeasure, he dropped his tired head into his hands. The exhaustion and worry weighed on him heavily and the walls he'd erected around his emotions were beginning to fail under the pressure. This just wasn't fair.

The last week had been test in endurance, an all too common occurrence lately for International Rescue. The last 24 hours though, a complete nightmare. What had started out as standard operation had turned into a complicated mess of secret agendas, hidden rooms and black market profits or so he had gathered from the little snippets he'd heard from Scott's conversations.

Alan used 'conversations' very loosely though as it had been much more like a verbal assault and evisceration. Scott; when prompted, was truly masterful and scary at assassination by oral expression. Alan was pretty sure that whomever the words had been directed would be licking their wounds for some time to come.

Not that any of that creative expression was going to change their current predicament in any way.

Staring blindly at the floor, Alan rubbed at his aching, tired eyes and the whirlwind of his thoughts started up again, circling back to the beginning for a joyful trip down memory lane.

The snap shots of what he'd witnessed first hand at that facility made his breath shudder and he clenched his lids to stymie the threatening tears.

'I will not cry. I will hold it together.' He repeated it like a mantra in his head, lips moving along though no words came out.

Virgil had only been unconscious for a short time but in that brief measure Alan swore he had lived a life time. The heft of his brother's frame slumped against his shoulder as he'd half dragged, half carried the pilot from the newly ignited inferno was an experience he never wanted to revisit.

The blood; there had been so much of it, had stained the side of his own uniform. It had seeped into the joints of his chest plating, the seams of his flight suit and had taken hours to get out of the crevasses.

He'd thought at the time as he scrubbed away the evidence of the days events, that everything was going to be just fine. Virgil was home and resting in the medbay. Being monitored around the clock and tended by his loved ones.

The idiot had insisted after being patched up for what their family considered a minor laceration - twenty sutures in all - that being home would be more beneficial to his well being and recovery then being cooped up in some GDF medical ward.

Scott being Scott, hadn't put up much of a fight and had conceded when Virgil had expertly sweetened the pot. Alan could still see the look in brother's gaze and hear the pleading in his voice as he'd all but begged.

'Scott, you know you won't be satisfied unless you can mother hen.. I'll submit to whatever you want without complaint. I just want to go home.'

Scott had sighed. The simple sound speaking of the many years and gray hair that the family had added to his tall frame. With a single nod, a doctor's sign off and a bucket full of antibiotics and they'd all headed home.

It had been the wrong move and the repercussions of that decision had yet to be fully revealed.

Within hours of them setting foot on their island paradise the fever had started. Minor at first and brushed off easily with a top off of drugs, wound cleaning and a bandage change. They were tired, worn down and stressed so the temperature spike had been attributed to that.

A mainland doctor had been consulted just to be safe and the orders of bed rest had been repeated.

The fever had climbed and the delirium had set in not long after.

They'd had to resort to restraints just to get him to Auckland. Even with him being drugged and out of it, Virgil was a powerhouse. It had taken himself, Scott and Gordon to get him secured and stowed away on Two for the short trip to the mainland. By the time they'd arrived; engines pinging as they cooled from being pushed so hard, Virgil had slipped into a coma.

Why? His tumultuous mind spat out again.

Why had Virgil insisted on coming home?

Why had Scott let him?

Why had his big, stupid brother used own body as a shield? The idiot didn't have chest plating like he did, so why?

Walls crumbling, Alan cracked wide open. Tears welling and spilling over his cheeks. This wasn't right. This couldn't be happening. Virgil was dying and they couldn't do anything to stop it.

The fleet of Doctors didn't have a clue as to the cause. They placated and offered their sympathy but they were doing everything they could. Virgil just wasn't responding to treatment. The wound was clean, surgery had confirmed that there was no debris or shrapnel present. Still, the infection raged on.

More tests were being run. Infectious Diseases had been brought in to assist but still they were doubtful and had said as much to the family.

The news had destroyed their Grandmother. The usually strong battle axe had just lost too much over the years and the down cast eyes and shaking heads of the doctors broke her.

A sedative had been administered and the calming presence of Lady Penelope had steered her to a private waiting room to rest.

The others? Well, Alan suspected they weren't faring much better than he was but he hadn't conversed with them to verify. They'd just ghosted in and stay for a while and ghosted back out again, registering much more than that had been beyond Alan.

Regaining some semblance of control over himself, Alan wiped at his face and looked over to the bed and the still figure that laid upon it. Monitors blipped with readings for heart rate, oxygen saturation levels, blood pressure and temperature.

He was well versed in form and function of each machine and in this situation he wished he wasn't. All they did was emphasis that death was creeping into the sterile room one blip at a time. Turning his gaze away from them almost immediately, he took in the ghost like appearance of his sibling.

Virgil's hair hung dark and limp over his sweat dampened brow. Dark shadows bruised the hallows of his eyes, lightly tacked shut with surgical tape. An intubation tube snaked down his throat and was feeding his failing lungs oxygen via a mechanical ventilator. He looked waxen and unreal except for the shallow rise and fall of his chest.

Every manner of mechanized assistance was being utilized and even to Alan's young mind, he knew things were bleak. He's seen and been witness to just too many things to think otherwise.

Reaching over he took one cold hand in his own and dropped his head to the back of it, mindful of the IV lines and O2 monitor. "Virgil, please." He begged, his breath hitching as a new wave of tears threatened. "You can't do this to us…"

The soft hand that landed on his shoulder surprised him and made him squeak in a way that he didn't care for. Jumping up and turning, he came face to face with the one person that had been missing through all of this.

Tanusha "Kayo" Kyrano, stood pale and for the first time since he had known her, small before him. A twitch of a smile, tweaked the corner of her lip but it didn't reach her red rimmed eyes.

"Hey." Her voice was hoarse,

"Kayo.." Alan didn't know what to say to her. Really what was there that he could say. Instead he opened his arms in invitation. She accepted and stepped into his embrace, strong, slender arms wrapping around him, head falling to his shoulder.

Holding her slim form he whispered in her ear. "I am so so sorry…"

She pulled back from him, eyes flashed with a hint of anger. "This wasn't your fault, Alan so don't you dare blame yourself for it."

Alan swallowed, shocked by the strength of the vehemence behind her words. "Kayo…."

"No!" She cut him off. "The blame lies in someone else's hands and I will not let this family suffer more for their actions. Do you hear me?"

Alan nodded.

"Good."

It was then that he noticed Scott standing by the large windowless door. His arms crossed protectively over his chest, shoulders slouched, his dark brown hair in complete disarray as if his hand had carelessly racked through it countless times.

Piercing blue eyes stood out in stark relief and looked directly into his own, his brow arching up in question.

Alan gave a nod in understanding and stepped back from Kayo, hands resting on her arms. "I'm going to go take a walk.. I need some air. Do you want anything?"

Kayo's weakly shook her head, her pale green eyes now glued to the bed.

Giving her arm a supportive squeeze, he stepped past her and made for the door. Passing through on the tail of Scott into the busy hallways beyond.

As the door started to quietly close, he glanced back and pulled up short.. His hand shooting out to bar the progress of the hinged obstruction that was determined to separate them.

He watched unable to command his body to move as the solitary tear carved a path down Kayo's finely boned face. Her lips were moving in what he could only guess was silent prayer as her fingers twirled a strand of Buddhist prayer beads. The length sliding through her daft digits over and over again with each silent utterance.

The pain blooming in his chest caused his breath to catch in his throat and Alan grabbed at the door frame to steady himself. This wasn't fair. Oh God, it wasn't fair.

And as he stood vigil, bearing witness to the sad, tender moment between his fallen brother and his adoptive sister the soft light of the setting sun peeked through a small fissure in the blinds. Haloed, Kayo lent down over the shell of a once strong man, pressed her brow to his own and wept.

oOo


	4. Gun Point

Veg-notables: There is a method to my madness..this one was harder for me to get out because I only had small, itty-bitty partial scenes in my head when I started.. I blame Scott..he is being elusive and was laughing at me. ::glares at the coiffed, blue shirted tree:::

gumnut-logic - for letting me pick her brains and drive her up the wall.::tosses a ThunderHunk at:::

Pew pew Thunderheads! You guys are a truly an awesome bunch!

Blanket warning: Pew pew prompt so there will be mention of a gun somewhere in here at some point…as well as blood and hints of violence… Pew

Characters: Scott, John.

Whumptober - TaG'verse

5\. Gun point

Enjoy…

oOo

The cockpit of One was eerily silent, the spirited ship sat dormant, still and seemingly lifeless as Scott slumped further into his chair. His mussed head resting on one closed fist, uniform surprisingly rumpled and unkempt for someone who prided himself on an orderly appearance. Something that had been drilled into him during his time in the service…just like Dad.

Well.. almost like Dad.

Today he was the furthest thing from what his father had been and Scott didn't know how he could reconcile the obvious differences now.

It had all gone just so horribly wrong and Scott found himself reduced to the child he had been all those years ago on that bitterly cold, too bright white day. Surrounded by too many unknowns and petrified of what was going to happen next.

His tongue darted out and swept over too dry, chapped lips as he drew in a shaky breath that made his chest ache.

He noted with uncaring eyes that the strap of his baldric was digging into his hip and in turn it pulled the securing belt that wrap about his thigh up into places it just wasn't meant to go. He didn't have the energy to care and he sat wishing it hurt more.

The numbness as it restricted his circulation sent tingling waves down the limb and the pain did little to distracted him from the wellspring of uncertainty that had taken up residence behind his breast bone.

Bone tired, he shifted his gritty eyes to what lay heavily in his lap. Watched vacantly as the rough pad of his thumb brushed back and forth over blackened steel. The cold, deadly weight pinning him to seat of a craft that stood for life.

Time ticked by.

The click of his comms coming to life had a small spark of something returning to the deep blue of his gaze. A glimmer of hope that was quickly quashed.

"Scott?" The almost regal intonation of his space-borne brother whispered quietly through the still confines. There was an edge of exhaustion to the sigh that followed and an uneasiness that Scott had a hard time hearing in John's normal reticence.

Azure, rimmed and flecked with Prussian blue scrutinized the control panel. Audio only.

Scott pinched the bridge of his nose and forced composure even though he wanted..needed..to scream.

He flicked his comm open, "…John."

"What's your ETA?" Those were the words that transmitted but Scott heard what they really were saying. We need you

Another in-drawn breath, lungs inflating even with the vice of mourning clamped around them. He didn't have an answer, he didn't know it himself so he answered with a question of his own. "Were they able to confirm."

The line was silent but Scott knew John was still there, mulling over his answer. The lengthening silence not what he wanted to hear.

His lungs seized and he shoved a fist in his mouth to physically hold back a sob.

Eyes squeezed tight, the scream in his head grew louder.

"The intel was accurate…IDB* has confirmed."

"..and…?"

"Scott, please. Come back."

"John!" His voice kicked up an octave, panic causing it to crack. A moment to collect himself, he tried again. "John, just tell me."

"It's a genetically altered form of bacterial meningitis. Spinal tap confirmed it with the modified testing procedures that was included in the intel." John took a moment, the sound of shuffling could be heard over the line followed by the soft sound of a door closing. The gentle sound of beeping grew in volume as John moved and settled down somewhere.

"Secure?" Scott inquired.

"10-4, just needed to get some privacy. Grandma is a mess and doesn't need to hear this." A long inhalation before he continued "IDB has never seen anything like it before. The bacteria has been masked on a genetic level so normal methods of testing wont turn anything up. It's immune to temperature variations, coded to be transmitted only by a specific means but can be altered easily for respiratory dispersal .. and its potent.. Completely off the charts."

"…go on…." Scott urged when John fell silent again.

"It's a superbug, Scott. The likes of which have never been seen."

Scott bolted up.. "Alan?!"

"He's fine, Scott. Still in isolation but the tap was clean. Gordon and Kayo were checked as well to be safe, they're both in the clear. Virgil was the only one affected and has been quarantined."

"So, can it be stopped?"

"IDB has been trying but the bug is showing no sign of letting up. It appears to be immune to antibiotics.. Scott.. " John's voice quivered. "They're working on it but they don't think they will have time to manufacture a cure. He's in organ failure."

Scott flicked the comms off and let the scream that he'd been holding back out with a howl of frustration, fear, anger. A litany of curses followed and he kicked angrily at a jump seat. Pain ricocheting up his leg as the cahelium alloy bit back at the abuse.

His legs gave out under him and he crumpled to the decking, knees drawn up to his chest. He pushed the heels of his palms into his face, trying to block out reality to no avail. The cold, forgotten steel unyielding as it pressed against his brow.

Over the noise in his head, he heard John calling his name but he made no move to open the channel back up. He just couldn't right now. He needed space to think, to breathe and somehow put himself back together again.

Dropping his hands to his knees, he leaned back against a bulkhead. The gun dangled in his limp fingers, the safety off but the chamber was empty.

With his thumb, he flipped the lock on and off again a couple times and his eyes strayed to his bruised and battered knuckles. The skin was split in places, blooded. Clenching his left, he winced at the throb. Fractured, among everything else.

Some of the blood was his own but most of it was not and he knew he was going to have to answer for it. That the answer would mean the end of a dream.

Staring out the view port at the approaching lights of the GDF ground crew he knew that time was running out and there was nothing he could do.

He'd pay the heavy price for the intel he'd collected. The man he'd left broken and close to death would hopefully rot for the rest of his life on the Enceladus penal colony if Scott had anything to say about it. That's if the piece of shit lived.

Scott had known that good for nothing, bastard CEO was a piece of garbage the minute he'd laid eyes on him and he sneered as he remembered the feeling of his fist hitting the fucker's face.

He hadn't counted on the gun. Hadn't even looked for one as he'd pummeled the chemical manufacturer's top man but there it was. It was a moment of pure impulse and anger that had the gun easily in his own hand, the barrel pressed up tight under the whimpering man's jaw, safety off, hammer cocked.

It would be so simple to just squeeze the trigger. End the life of the monster who cared little for anyone or anything except the amount in his off planet bank account. The account that the stupid, pissing man had thought no one would find.

Well, iR wasn't just anyone. They had an unlicensed, unregistered A.I in their back pocket and she'd had little difficulty finding the digital trail and aiming Scott right to his mark.

John would be livid when he found out that Scott had by-passed him and gone to his daughter but Scott had had little choice in the matter and the A.I had been eager to assist.

Eos was many things but lazy was not one of them. She'd done a deep dive into the GDF's system and knew everything within seconds. From the man's social insurance number to the affair he was having with his spouse's sister, to the bout of gonorrhea he was secretly getting treated under the guise of 'business meetings'. She'd found it all, even his safe house.

A quick, jump across the Pacific to a backwoods cabin in the Canadian Rockies was the work of a moment and he hadn't thought twice about going against the GDF's direct orders to leave it to them.

What he'd learned after infiltrating and the asshole was pinned to the wall, made his blood run cold and the gun had burned in his hand.

oOo

Glossary:

IDB - Infectious Disease Board

Enceladus - one of Saturn's moon made up primarily of frozen water and not a nice place to have a penal colony.


	5. Isolation

**Veg-notables:** ::crawls out from under a rock..clears throat as if nothing happened::  
Little late getting this one out due to...life...food...irritating biological need to sleep.. All that fun stuff.

gumnut-logic - KOALA!

Thunderheads, you guys are a riot. I love reading your reactions to the crazy sh!t I'm putting these guys through. I can almost feel the laser beams pointing at my forehead.. Tee he he.. Can defo feel the assault'mallows.. ::bounces one of gumnut-logic 's head::

**Obligatory whumptober stuff:** whumptober2019 la-vie-en-whump

**Blanket warning: **stuff happens.. O.o;

**Characters:** Scott, Gordon/Penny, Colonel Casey and a smattering of other players.

Whumptober - TaG'verse

**7\. Isolation**

Enjoy…

oOo

Gordon scowled at the transparent 3-D rendering of his Godmother and resisted the compulsion to swear. Foul language wouldn't get him anywhere with the formidable woman except disapproval from all those sitting within ear shot and a disconnected call.

"Look," Gordon beseeched. "We need Scott back here. Things aren't looking good."

"I understand the urgency," The commanding voice of the Colonel softened. "But this is out of my hands. He nearly beat a man to death and we can't just ignore that."

"Colonel," Gordon voice raised as he pushed up from his chair, winced at a twinge in his back. Fucking plastic torture device. A look from the attending at the nurses station had him gritting his teeth with frustration "That so called man, has landed my brother in the ICU with a tube shoved down his throat to keep him alive. At least Scott left that piece of shit still breathing. Which is more than I can say for Virgil. One of ours is rapping on death's door. You'll have to excuse us if we don'd give a royal flying fuck what the GDF wants right now."

The colonel visage soured as anger sparked in her gaze. "No organization is an island, Gordon."

Gordon eye twitched, well technically iR's home base was an island…if the day hadn't been so 'arse over teakettle' as Penny had occasion to say, he would comment on that little tidbit. Right now though, it wouldn't get them anywhere

"There are rules in place that have to be adhered to." She went on. "Laws, international ones put in place by the World Union that are not kindly suggestions no matter who the individual is or what the cause. He crossed, unauthorized into Canadian airspace without their foreknowledge or direct invitation and attacked someone on their soil. A dual citizen at that. Yes, it was with provocation but it doesn't excuse his actions or the handful of laws that he decided didn't apply to him."

"Really, with everything we have done? The lives we've saved? This is the response we're gonna to get?" His voice took on a pleading edge and he looked away. "Aunty Val, Virgil is dying."

The authoritative posture dropped away from his Aunt with the utterance of those three words.. The sternness and anger evaporating to be replaced with the woman they had spent so much time with as children. "Gordy," Her voice, underlaid with a fount of emotions. "I am doing everything I can. This is coming down from the top brass and the odds are stacked."

Gordon's expression must have revealed something the seasoned GDF colonel didn't like because she sighed and gave a brief nod. "I'll call in a few markers. Shake some tree and see what falls out.

"Thank you," And his gratitude was real. His eyes held hers a moment before skittering away. A hand reaching up to dash away at his face before turning back.

"I can't promise anything. If you have any options on your side I suggest you try them." Her brow rose pointedly and it took Gordon a moment to understand what she meant.

As realization dawned, he tipped his head in a nod. "I understand. Thank you."

8-8-8

Scott's pensive stare drilled holes in cold gray, unadorned walls of the interrogation room. He'd lost track of how long ago he'd been accompanied into this friendly little corner of GDF territory and shifted his weight on the hard, metal chair. Enough time for his legs to go numb from disuse.

The bright overhead panel lighting was unforgiving as it drove a spike through his brain when he rolled his head on his protesting neck. The tension unrelenting with the stark, searing luminescence frying his retinas.

'Note to self,' he thought wearily. 'Lights suck.'

He wanted to yell and scream at the GDF to let him out but he knew it was pointless. He was well aware of how this worked. Making a person 'sweat it out' was an old tactic. One he went through counter intelligence training for back in his military days. A brief in-counter but one that was necessary prior to a rather sketchy mission that had a very small success rating.

Let the suspect sit and stew so you could use their mental exhaustion against them. Throw them off balance. Then when they reached the point of critical mass, grill them hard.

His stare shifted to the two way glass. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing him crack. He was too proud for that. And his energies were best used elsewhere on other things. Like getting back to his family...to Virgil.

The image of the prone figure that flashed through his mind pulled Scott up short and he schooled his features. If he let himself go down that rabbit hole again he was done for.

It was his own actions that put him here and he would have to live with it. It didn't stop him from yearning to be elsewhere. Being cut off and not knowing how his family was fairing was slowly killing him but he'd made the decision, against the colonel's direct order not to intervene in their ongoing investigation.

He hadn't had a choice though. As Virgil's status got worse.. as he'd had to watch his family suffer along side...as he'd seen the look of despair pass over his sister, heard the sudden catch in her voice...his decision had been made.

His family wouldn't lose anyone else. Attend another funeral, bury another Tracy. Not if he had anything to say about it.

Time had been short and a plan had been hastily thrown together. One that avoided putting anyone else in harm's way bar himself.

Now, thanks to him, the GDF had an illegal bio-weapon manufacturer under lock and key. The makings of a firm case against a criminal organization they hadn't even known existed and a pocket ace up their sleeve to help them locate everyone involved… once he regained consciousness.

And Scott had the intel he had hoped would help his brother. Along with some he wished he didn't.

Closing his eyes against the unforgiving light, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. Irked as the cuffs that were secured to the metal table, which in turn was bolted to the floor, pulled at his wrist and forced him to lean forward to accomplish the task.

Doubt clouded his mind, made him second guess his every move. Question how things could have been differently and if they had been, would it have made a difference? Would Virgil be safe? Or would it have just happened to one of his other siblings.

He didn't know.

What he did know was that a greedy individual had panicked when things had gotten too hot. An unsanctioned, hidden bio-engineering lab had been rigged and to cover his ass when the top of the whole thing was about to be blown wide open, this scum had calmly flicked a switch.

No care given to human life. To his brother's life.

A gas filled lab had been remotely unlocked to the smoldering remains just inches outside the door and his brother's life was now dangling over a precipice with no way back.

Clenched fist came down hard on the metal table just as the interrogation room door opened.

8-8-8

Gordon braced his hands on his knees and arched his back in the small hope that the crazy knot of muscles would loosen up. He knew the likelihood of that happening was next to non existent without a muscle relaxant, heating pads and his bed but it was worth a try.

The hand that started rubbing slow circles from the base of his spine up to his shoulders elicited a grunt of appreciation.

"Thanks."

"Darling, you need to get some sleep." Penny's voice was filled with worry and he looked over his shoulder at her.

She was perfect. In every aspect of the word. From her finely boned, aristocratic face, to her intricately twisted champagne blonde halo of hair. To the slender curves that held so much strength, right down to her Louis Vuitton clad feet. Every inch of her was perfect and Gordon was goner from the moment he laid eyes on her.

He didn't deserve her and would never be able to even touch her regalness and intelligence but for some completely ridiculous reason she loved him.

And right now, he would forever be in her debt.

"I'll get some shut eye once Scott gets here until then it's not going to happen."

Penelope knew a set mind when she met one and she nodded her understanding. "In any event, let me get you something. You are a twisted knot of muscles and I can imagine it is dreadfully comfortable."

Gordon's lip tweaked up a bit in a soft smile and he shook his head. "I'm okay, Penny. I need to wait to hear back from my contact at W.A.S.P. They owe me one but I'm not sure it's going to be enough. If I take something now I'm going to be a useless pile of mush on the floor."

"Well, that would certainly be something to see."

"I'm sure it would. The hospital staff would be able to mop me up into a bucket."

Penny lightly nudged his shoulder with her own and her hand continued its circuitous route over his seizing back.

Gordon dragged in a breath as her ministrations melted some of the tightness, his head lolling forward in the quiet din of their private waiting room. He was flagging in a bad way and he knew he needed to get back up to his feet if he wanted to stay this side of dream land. Besides the last thing his back needed was for him to fall asleep in one of these God forsaken chairs.

Giving his head a shake to dislodge the cobwebs he caught the time on the old school analog wall clock.. He wanted to see Virg but Kayo was in with him. The idea of interrupting that intimacy was not something that he found very appealing. He would give her five more minutes then he would offer her a break.

Calculating if he had enough time to grab a coffee from the little shop the next floor down he patted his pocked down for spare credits.

He was about to turn to Penny to see if she wanted anything when a sudden disturbance in the hallway had his head coming up sharply. Frowning, he forced his back to unbend and pushed to his feet.

Stepping out into the corridor, he was met with pandemonium as hospital staff raced passed. The alarm blaring somewhere down by the nurses station made his heart skip a beat but it was his sagging sister being escorted from a very busy and familiar room that had his lungs refusing to work.

"Oh god...no…"

oOo


	6. Stab Wound

Veg-notables: I'm radioactive, radioactive!

Starting this at 1 in the AM so not sure how good it is going to be. 'Scuse the drool stains…Bit of a filler piece but I wanted to get Johnny PoV on things. I may come back and tweak this a bit later..

Not 100% satisfied with this one but meh.. wanted to get something up for you all.

gumnut-logic ..::covered in riot gear happily munching on hard candy ::

Thunderhead take over of tumblr!

Obligatory whumptober stuff: whumptober2019 la-vie-en-whump

Blanket warning: loads of internal dialogue.. Johnny is in an introspective mood and wouldn't shut up

Characters: Space bagel and others on the periphery

Whumptober - TaG'verse

8\. Stab Wound

Enjoy…

oOo

Despite the fact that John spent the majority of his time floating about 20 000 kilometers above the Earth on Five, he was actually well acquainted with the feeling of being stabbed.

He'd been thirteen at the time, surprisingly enough. Tall, lanky and awkward. All things that made him a massive target to the douche-bag crowd at school.

He was no stranger to being the odd man out. He was quieter than his brothers, more reserved and introverted. He preferred to spend his free time studying the things he loved while his siblings were in to all manners of extracurricular activities.

Not to say he didn't do his own activities outside of school, his were just of a different ilk to the boisterousness of other activities that would attract youth.

This tended to make a target out of his gingered hide.

One particular instance had been worse than the rest. A group of fellow classmates had taken a dislike him early on in the school year. He tried his best to ignore it as one of the boys was actually from a troubled home and was just looking for an outlet for his frustrations to make himself feel better.

John had learned fairly quickly that with bullies it was best just to ignore them and not react. Eventually they would grow bored and move on to other things.

This troubled individual had other plans though.

He took John's lack of response and non reactive attitude as an affront to his person and set out to completely destroy him.

His tactic had been nothing short of guerrilla warfare...lots of little things over the course of several weeks.. Everything for stealing his gym clothing to sabotaging a school project he had been working for an extra credit. At one point he'd even anonymously accused him of having a weapon in his locker, which resulted in the school going on lock down, the police being called in and a rather disturbing visited to the principal's office.

Due to this there was threats of a mark on his permanent school record which he had protested vehemently about but the school insisted they had to put it down as per procedure. It had taken his Dad threatening legal action on libel to get the school to drop the report and clear his file of any misdoings.

Clear record or not the damage was done. After that he couldn't go anywhere without other students either leaving the room or just down right avoiding him at all cost. They all thought he was going to snap and do something stupid despite the fact that he had been proven innocent. Rumours had been spread rather viciously and no one wanted anything to do with him

The bully had succeeded in cutting him off from his peers.. Well not all off them, he still had his brothers but he didn't want them to worry about him. Scott was tied up in studying for his finals and Virgil was prepping for an upcoming music recital. And the terrible two were too young to understand.

So he continued to deal with it on his own. Until one horrible afternoon when he got corned by his tormentor and accused of getting him suspended. John hadn't had anything to do with it but the bully wouldn't accept his answers.

The ensuing beat down had him fighting for his life as the other boy had a good fifty pounds on him and had a reputation of being a spectacular brawler.

The knife that had come out of nowhere was the last thing that John had expected and if it hadn't been for Virgil coming out of the music wing from an after school session he would have been pushing up daisies.

Virgil had pile-drived the kid halfway across the yard. Even then, Virg was a tank and had a reputation for not taking shit from anyone when the chips were down.

John had been lucky, his wound though deep had been superficial. Some stitches and a week off at home and he was right as rain again though he'd had serious trepidation about returning to school.

His brothers on the other hand had rallied. Like a well intentioned wall, his brothers circle around him and John had returned to school. It didn't take long before all their support and attention started to pay off. And just like that, one day several weeks later, he stopped looking over his shoulder every five minutes and he sank back into the routine of school and family life.

Looking back at it all, he realized that one incident had actually been a small blip in comparison to all the others that followed but it had a lasting impact on him. He'd become less withdrawn from his siblings, a trait he at a very young age had acquired when their mother had died, and as a result the group of them had become stronger for it.

There had been some major events since then of course, the disappearance of their father being one, a run in with the chaos crew that left Gordon in traction another but he'd learned that no matter what, as long as he had his brothers, they could get through anything.

Until now.

He hadn't thought that it was possible for mental anguish to have an actually physical manifestation but it did. The stabbing, heart wrenching pain behind his breast bone at having to watch his nearest and dearest suffer was something he would never wish on his worst enemy.

And life again was threatening to take one of their own.

Somehow though, through the miracle of modern medicine his brother was still alive. The expert team of specialist that had swarmed his brothers room like ants had managed to stabilize the cardiac arrhythmia and Virgil was still with them.

Though for how long, no one could tell.

The hospital was doing its best with what it had. A massive donation from Tracy Industry and a call out to all bacterial specialist and bio-engineers the world over would hopefully do the rest. But the outcome of it all was still uncertain and the doctors were hesitant to provide them with any unsupported hope for a positive outcome.

So they were stuck in a holding pattern.

Kayo was understandable distraught and after the initial shock of the near death she'd withdrawn into herself and refused to talk to anyone.

Alan was glued to his Grandmother's side, her hand clasped firmly in his own. Eyes hollow and unseeing.

Grandma wasn't fairing much better but she was trying to cover it up with fussing over the others now that the mild sedative Penny had given her had leveled out her nerves.

Gordon was leaning heavily on Penny for support, never far from her side and seemed to be engrossed in some task that he refused to tell him about no matter how many times John approached the subject.

Brains was around somewhere, head bent over petri-dishes with the medical staff. One of his side interests that he hoped would provide some help no matter how small.

That left the absent Scott who had taken off some hours earlier for areas unknown. He'd been in contact with John of course for a data dump and he'd checked in on them about three hours ago from an undisclosed location but since then it was radio silence.

Even with the power of Thunderbird 5 at his beck and call, if a tracking beacon was turned off even John would be hard pressed to find One. It was basically a cloaked rocket on acid when the beacon was disengaged. A silly fail safe that had been installed in the slim chance someone might have the gall to try and follow them.

With the speeds of their 'birds though the chances of that were slim.

Folding his arms across his chest, John shifted his weight to his opposite foot and settled back into the corner he had claimed in the small, private waiting room. This part of the process really was tedious and all he could do was stew in his own thoughts like everyone else was doing.

To put it mildly, it sucked.

Just when he thought things couldn't possibly get worse though, they did.

oOo


	7. Shackled

Veg-notables: So this one was a bit of a trip…a sober one at that and not my usual fare. Seems I was in a mood last night.. Oops… and since I put the effort into it, I have to see it through in all its ….oddness.

gumnut-logic .::hugs cause she knows why::

::Strikes a He-man pose:: " By the power of Thunderhead …." Wait..? what? That doesn't sound right.." ::goes back to the drawing board:::

Obligatory whumptober stuff: whumptober2019 la-vie-en-whump

Blanket warning: Existential float through nothingness …

Characters: The Vegetable

Whumptober - TaG'verse

9\. Shackled

Enjoy…

oOo

He was trapped in a void of white and nothingness. Floating in an abyss of never-ending brightness that stung his eyes even closed.

His brows were drawn tight, pinched at the apex of his nose with his frown of confusion. A bafflement almost viscous in its density, clouded his thoughts. Coloured his mind in turbulent muddy hues slashed with angry shades of puce. Murky browns and grisly grays swirled and menaced but outside that everything was blank.

Shifting mists of effervescence swirled on senseless air currents from unimagined, unseen sources. Lost to the brume that concealed everything

His physical being floundered, stupefied and cloaked in a shroud of numbness that left him deadened to the vacuum that encompassed all

He was shackled to the knowledge that this could be it, his new everything. Apart from the place he had been before but he couldn't reconcile why it differed from his current existence.

He tethered himself to the fluttering thread of memories. Tried to grasp the ragged, tattered remains of them and piece them back together into some form of cohesion.

A wisp of rich ebony, a sun kissed swirl of ginger, a smattering of ocher peppered with abalone and a cacophony of lively shades of blonde.

They danced and skittered around the periphery, ever out of his reach. Eluding his blundering attempts to tamped them into place.

Frustration swelled, brimmed over and erupted but to no avail. The teasing of his memories would not abate and coalesce.

There was a ticking just on the cusp of his hearing that carried a warning, a foreboding sense of dread that this time and place though vast, was not limitless.

And in that finiteness he knew without a shadow of a doubt he would be forever barred from the before place.

The cruelty of that ending stoked the tinder of his fury and with a powerful surge; a last ditch effort, he latched on to a tendril.

Contact brought with it a warmth that suffused him. Overwhelmed in its intensity, his will refused to let go.

A breath of sound, breezed by his ear. Tickled his nap and shuddered down his spine.

A whisper of fingers ghosted across his flesh and a quaking of something wanton reverberated in his chest.

All in the blink of an eye.

It then shifted and warped. Sparks of other things filtered through.

The quiver of a worried voice, the anger of another.

Heat, cold, passion, fire, anger, and pain. It was now everywhere and it played like in a chaotic torrent of sound and light but ever just out of reach

Arresting his questing mind, assaulting his perceptions.

The void was still there hovering just beyond and it beckoned.

Turning, he looked back from the maelstrom. The peace and solitude welcoming him. The nothingness inviting him to a place free of the ornery nature of mankind and it was tempting.

Hesitantly he stepped towards it, reached out with a quivering hand and his fingertips brushed against the shimmering portal.

A flash of electricity tingle up his limb and culminated in the center of his chest with an icy burst. The well of gravity abruptly shifted and a chilled grasp took hold, pulled him.

He bulked, unsure if he should go forward and back, up or down. One hand braced against the frigid circumference that framed the portal.

One way lay peace and the emptiness of death, the other chaos and the robustness of life. The forever silence or the orchestra of being.

The choice was simple. Bolstered, he pushed off.

Unshackled by the heft of his decision, he plunged back into the anarchy.

oOo

Additional note: This one might leave you with some questions.. If so, fire away.. I am happy to answer.


	8. Tear-stained

eg-notables: so this happened on my lunch break yesterday while I was hiding in my car listening to music Passed out last night before I could finish it.. So.. hmm.. Well here we are. I am lacking caffeine today and doing a great impression of a sleep deprived V so please excuse my ramblings

Additionally, as I now seem to be doing these out of order.. I am taking the numbering out of the headers..

gumnut-logic - ::duck tapes to chair, mummifies in toilet paper…inspects works::: "Perfect! Zom-nut"

Obligatory whumptober stuff: whumptober2019 la-vie-en-whump

Blanket warning: A continuation of breaking and tearing apart the TaG family. Angst-be-gone chocolate might be needed after this one…

Characters: Scott, Kayo and Gordon

Whumptober - TaG'verse

14 .Tear-stained

Enjoy…

oOo

Stepping out of the waiting room, Kayo made her way down the hall on hurried, unsteady feet. Darting around shocked nurses and stumbling into hospital orderlies.

She had no sense of where she was going. All she knew was that she just needed out.

Out of the stark white, sterile, overly sanitized maze of cinder block walls and large, faux wood paneled swinging doors with their little, mesh inlaid windows.

Out of the softly spoken, overly compassionate voice filled spaces with their faint, rhythmic beep, beep, beep and the whooosh of the ventilators.

Away from the sad, knowing eyes of her friends and family.

And away from the knowledge that she just might not make it out the other side of this ordeal. If the heart of the man she cared for more than life itself couldn't make it one more hour, one more day, one more year, she was going to be reduced to a shell of herself and the aftermath of which she didn't even want to fathom.

A lifetime of knowing he wouldn't be there.

Her chest tightened, her vision blurred and lungs starved for breathe. She nearly cried out at the first glimpse of the harsh red light at the end of the corridor that declared her escape with blaring four inch letters.

Her exit out. Her egress. Her chance at being away from it even if just for a few short, desperate minutes.

Legs numb, heart pounding, tears threatening she punched through the heavy steel door and flew down the stairs. Racing from the hurt, the agony of having to sit stationary in that room surrounded by the ones that would live. Could live and move on when she could not.

Stuck in the fading rhythm of that beep, beep, beep….

Pushing through the last barricade she burst out into the gloriously bright sunlight. The breeze hot, dry, blistering, the air thick with the song of cicadas and the dappled sun slanting through the lush, green foliage.

Such a contrast to the inside. Such an insult to her senses after too long of being deprived.

God, she needed him.

If he didn't make it, if the IDB* wasn't successful with their synthesizing process, she would fade away right along with him.

Panic gripped her as the lonely years stretched out ahead of her into the unknown distance and she took off.

She needed more distance, more air to clear her head of the churning chaos of her mourning.

God, he wasn't gone yet. Why was she thinking like this?

She'd lost more than her fair share in life.. in the short span of it she had lived. Her mother, her home, her father to a quest that possibly had no end. An uncle that was lost to a darkness that no one understood.

Why couldn't she just have this one thing for herself. Why did everything have to be such a struggle? Why did he have to converse with death and threaten to leave her?

She snorted derisively at herself, self deprecation humming through her veins as she threw herself around a bricked corner and right into the churning angry maw of a viper's nest.

Her face stained with tears, flinched and drew back at the harsh flashes of light and the buzzing of holo-drones.

Her name was being shouted, mics and people clawing to get close, to get the first comment out of one of the fabled Tracy clan.

"Miss Kyrano, are the rumours true..?" From one direction.

"Can you confirm the identity of the victim in this heinous attack on your family?" Came from another.

"What is his status? Will there be a state funeral?"

"Our audience has a right to know, is this it for International Rescue?"

Too much, too soon. She couldn't cope with this right now.

Her eyes darted about, not seeing a clear path out of the horde of swarming reporters. All yelling for her, demanding that they had a right to the private, intimate details of a family in the maelstrom of suffering.

Eyes clenched shut, teeth grinding, ears ringing with the continual barrage of question after question. Staggering at the cusp of completely losing it, of making a mockery of the family she was tied to, the crowd suddenly stilled. The passivity so surreal, so sudden that she nearly jumped out of her skin when a pair of strong hands wrapped around her shoulders.

The tall, commanding force of nature, stood strong and imposing beside her. His roguish good looks, only slightly hampered by the drawn lines of fatigue that bracketed his mouth and dogged his eyes with increasing clarity.

Dressed casually in slacks and an oxford top he still managed to exuded the air of assertive confidence that he was well known for and she tried to draw her own strength from that. Just like he knew she would.

Looking down at her before addressing the mass of hounding newsagents, his blue gaze conveyed more words than one would think possible in such a short instance. They were a united front and no one would have to face this alone.

Giving her a quick squeeze, he addressed the media. "We thank you all for your continued patience and understanding but our family respectfully declines to comment at this time. Should you have any questions, please direct them to our media liaison at Tracy Industries."

Some of the wiser newsies knew when an official 'piss off' had been issued and backed off. The more tenacious of the vulturous bunch kept up the volley of inquiries but Scott; ever familiar with the process, handled it like a pro.

Kayo was turned and guided through the throng as a TI security detail closed in around them, ushering them in the front doors of the facility and into the relative quiet of the busy hospital lobby.

It was then that her legs gave out and she faltered.

Scott's arms held her up, his strength was her support and she latched on to it as she was steered to a discreet corner. Away from the prying eyes of the general public and out of camera distance from the gathering out front, she finally let go.

His voice was soft in her ear, comforting and reassuring as her silent tears marked the fine cotton of his shirt. "It will be okay." He kept repeating like a mantra. The shaky edge to his voice making it seem like he was also trying to convince himself. And perhaps he was.

"Where were you?" Her voice caught, her thin frame quaking with raw emotion. "We needed you."

"I'm sorry… I.. I'm so so sorry.." His hand rubbed circles over her back, body swayed in an attempt to sooth.

For several minutes no more words were spoken, just the gentle rocking and the quietude of shared grief for their company.

Eventually Kayo's silent tears stalled out, her laboured breathing calmed and everything seemed to still. A pause button on the universe.

The voices and sounds faded off to nothing, and she was just herself once again.

"You alright now?" A quiet question as he pulled back to look at her.

She gave a slow nod, wiped a hand across her cheeks, hiding her face away from him as she rallied her control.

One long, steady inhalation, and she stepped back. Composed as much as she could be with a tear reddened face, and swollen eyes.

"I will be". She announced and straightened her shoulders. Returned was the security specialist, stony, resilient and deadly.

"Good."

"Did you find what you were after?" There was an edge of anger in her tone that she couldn't quite contain. Why had Virgil's closest brother taken off? Why had he been gone so long? She could dig for the answer but she wasn't sure she really wanted to know.

"I'm not sure yet." Was his answer and the look in Scott's eyes sent a chill down her spine.

Somethings she knew, were better left where they were.

Hurried feet drew their attention and they moved as one to see Gordon jogging towards them.

"Thank fuck, I finally found you." The aquanaut wheezed, his whiskey eyes settling on her blotchy face. He knew better than to comment.

His gaze flicked over to Scott and there was a moment where something passed between them. Some unvoiced question that had Scott giving a brief nod. Gordon seemed satisfied with that and a brotherly greeting was exchanged, a quick hug, slap of open palms on each others backs.

They were all but dragged towards the bank of elevators that would lead them back up to the intensive care unit.

"Gordon, what's going on? Did something happen?" Panic crept into Kayo's voice.

"Not in the way you're thinking." Gordon grinned and pushed them all into the open doors of the elevator car.

The suspense was enough to drive her up the wall. "Well, spill Squid."

"Doctors and those Infectious Disease guys say they have some cautiously optimistic news." He supplied, "Said they managed to synthesize enough modified antibodies that they can start treating Virgil."

There was a stunned silence in the car.

Gordon turned to them, his smile growing in width along with his hope. "As long as Virg can hold out, they're hopeful they can help him fight the meningitis infection. They think they can cure him."

oOo

IDB - Infectious Disease Board


	9. Trembling

Veg-notables: Just a little blip as my muse was passed out on the floor yesterday and I am easing her back into things…

gumnut-logic - Cause you filled my PM's yesterday morning with happy :)

Obligatory whumptober stuff from .tumblr: whumptober2019 la-vie-en-whump

Blanket warning: Happy, happy, joy, joy and a sore throat.

Characters: _? :)

Whumptober - TaG'verse

20\. Trembling

Enjoy…

oOo

"Hey, Kiddo," her voice wavered as she brushed dark, messy hair back from a pale forehead. "Welcome back, we missed you."

There were tears in her eyes and a smile ghosted across her quivering lips but she was beyond ecstatic to once again see that warm brown gaze. Foggy as it was, it sure beat the alternative.

His hand lifted trembling from the bed and drunkenly reached for her. She took it gratefully and brushed a kiss across his knuckles. "You really had us worried there."

His brows dropped low, a pinched expression on his face as he tried to swallow past what she assumed was sandpaper in his throat. Reaching out she grabbed a small paper cup and brought it to his lips, one hand helping to raise his head. "Here now, little sips. It will help."

He complied with her directions taking tentative, small sips of the soothing water but by the expression on his face, Sally could tell it was sore.

The quiet groan and the weak swat at the cup was her confirmation. "I know, Sweetheart. It's sore. That's from the intubation. I'll see if there is something they can give you for that to make it easier." She set the cup aside and caught his hand up his again, taking note of his flagging strength.

"Shhhh," She hushed, combing her fingers through thick hair. "Its okay, get some rest. We'll be here when you wake up again."

His eyes sunk closed, breathing evening out, deep and steady and she allowed her tears to fall.

oOo


	10. Bleeding Out

Veg-notables: Giving my muse another little nudge…little more fluff than whump but meh.. In that kinda mood..

Obligatory whumptober stuff from .tumblr: whumptober2019 la-vie-en-whump

Blanket warning: tissues may be required

Characters: Virgil/Kayo and an irritating nurse

Whumptober - TaG'verse

23\. Bleeding out

Enjoy…

oOo

The next time he drifted back into consciousness, Kayo was scowling daggers at the nursing staff who insisted on poking and prodding him.

She could tell Virgil did not appreciate it by the hard press of his lips as a bright pen light was shone into his blurry eyes and his name was called several times in an attempted to rouse him from the depths he just wasn't ready to return from.

"Is that really necessary?" She asked, shooting a glare at the back of the rather buxom red-head that was trying to pry one of Virgil's eyes open to judge his pupil response.

The nurse; well practiced in handling over-protective relatives, laughed off the question and simply answered. "Well, of course. It's all part of our five star service." And proceeded to grab at one of Virgil's flailing limbs to check his pulse.

Kayo grumbled something inaudible and took up Virgil's other hand. The squeeze she received in return had her eyes quickly shifting to his.

"Hey you." She smiled, leaning over to brush a kiss across his brow.

The whisper of her name in response to her greeting, his voice quiet and weak from disuse was the best sound she had ever heard and she all but forgot about the irritating nurse.

Fighting back tears, her smile grew and she rested her brow against his. "God, I've missed you."

Up until this very moment when his worn, tired but very much alive gaze met her own, when his breathe dance across her skin and the rusty baritone of his voice reached her ear, she'd been bleeding out. Losing parts of herself slowly one drop at a time, with each blip of the heart monitor.

Now as a calm settled over her, as the tension eased off of her own exhausted frame could she finally let herself completely believe that there was actually a future. A future for them both, together.

The quiet room and the soft brush of their intermingle breathe, his warm hand in her own and the world seemed righted again. Spinning in the right direction, gravitating them back to each other. One whole.

God, she was tired. All the weight of the last so many days, sleepless nights and rolling emotional upheaval making itself known to her. With a gentle curve of his lips he looked up at her through sleepy eyes and of course he knew. He always knew, even bedridden and just back from the brink of death.

His arms though encumbered by medical equipment opened to her and she carefully settled onto the bed beside him, mindful of the lines monitoring him, the IV pumping much needed fluids and antibiotics into his still too pale body…but he was fighting, pulling through, getting stronger and the dawn was finally shining on the horizon filled with hope once more.

oOo


	11. Pinned Down

Veg-notables: Okay so on a roll tonight it seems… so have some more…

gumnut-logic Thanks and all that with a bag of chips ::jazz hands:::

ThunderHead rule! ::Screams like a maniac with her tongue out..:::

Obligatory whumptober stuff from .tumblr: whumptober2019 la-vie-en-whump

Blanket warning: John… media… hack the planet

Characters: John and a smidgeon of Eos

Whumptober - TaG'verse

16\. Pinned down

Enjoy…

oOo

Yup, John had confirmed it. Things could definitely get worse.

Slipping back into their private waiting room, he slunk over to the little table they had set up with refreshments and snacks and grabbed a bag of bagel chips. His shoulders up and around his ears, he tore open the bag and he muttered angrily at himself.

A statistic about murder rates and news reporters on this continant tittered over his open comm and had him grumbling as he shoveled a handful of chips in his maw to stop himself from barking at his adoptive digitized daughter.

"John, your bio readings seemed to have spiked. Is there something I should be worried about?" Came the child-like voice that sparked with mischievous glee.

"No," He said around a mouthful of food. "Nothing at all."

Uncapping a bottle of water, he downed half of its contents and settled down on the arm of the room's only sofa to stew.

"Eos?"

"Yes, John."

"Remind me to hack News Network One, scramble all their archived videos with holo feeds of hamsters and drop a virus on that news anchor's personal unit….a nasty one.."

"I can do that now if you wish. Mr. Appleton's security is rather abysmal."

John shook his head, "No, this one deserves my personal attention."

"Understood." Came the reply and the line went silent.

Beyond pissed was an understatement for the astronaut but he was self contained enough not to explode all over the hospital.

All that BS because he'd wanted to escape outside for a moment, get some fresh air and see some sunlight…

Yes, as fair skinned as he was he did on occasion require some sun and uncanned air despite popular belief.

The reporters had zeroed in on him the moment he'd set foot out the door and they just wouldn't take 'No comment' for an answers no matter how many different languages he'd tossed at them. They just wouldn't let it go.

The downside of being rich was that the vultures were always circling and trying to get the next big scoop or to catch one of the famous Tracy boys with their pants down for their ridiculous tabloids.

And that was just the rich side of things. Throw in their affiliation with International Rescue, which they never spoke about or confirmed when asked and it was like chum in the water to the scum suckers.

One particular individual from News Network One was exceedingly persistent in his inquiries and had resorted to some underhanded tactics to try and get a rise out of John. To get him to reveal some tidbit of information about what was going on behind the secured entry doors of the hospital.

There was a reason John avoided the media like the plague. Their invasiveness was always irksome and for some reason out of all of his brothers they always knew that he was uncomfortable being in the limelight. For some strange reason they took that to mean he was the best person to hit up for details on any given situations. Why? He had no idea.

The media was Scott domain and one John stayed well clear from but today he had been caught completely unawares.

The torrent of questions that he had danced around and evaded had been personal and way too close for comfort and by the time he had managed to get away he was sure he had let something slip.

Tongue tied and flabbergasted by their abruptness, his tired mind had stumbled along as they scrounged for dirt on who had been hospitalized and what was their prognosis.

The sneaky, conniving prick for NN-One had completely caught John off guard with a question about a missing CEO from the last rescue and an iR possible connection to the events as there had been a sighting of one of their crafts over Canadian Rockies.

John was pretty sure by the smirking gleam in the reporters eyes that his lack of response and the fish faced expression had been what he was after all along.

If it came to light that they were caught up in some criminal syndicate with global aspirations in the illegal arms market, it could potentially have some lasting and not so nice effects on the rescue agency.

One that could bar them access to vulnerable countries and restrict their capabilities. Something that they just could not let happen.

The bastard had them pinned down and dead to rights at the moment and with Virgil still in ICU and the whole of iR off the clock there wasn't much he could do to prevent the media outlet from running with the story.. but he could make it difficult for them. He just needed one of his unregistered units, a space to work and some uninterrupted time.

oOo


	12. Numb

Veg-notables: This so took a direction I didn't expect it to go.. lol well happy writing in the land of "who the hell is driving this car cause it sure the hell isn't me?!"

Thanks gumnut-logic for keeping putting up with my butt

Obligatory whumptober stuff: whumptober2019 la-vie-en-whump

Blanket warning: Lots of internal reflecting and sleep

Characters: Scott, Kayo and a sleeping Virgil.

Whumptober - TaG'verse

29\. Numb

Enjoy…

oOo

Pushing the door open gently, Scott slipped into the dimly lit room.

Virgil's health had turned for the better in the last twenty four hours and his Doctors; still rather guarded, were very pleased with his continued improvement.

It would be a long road to recovery and the ramifications of the illness that had attacked his nervous system and thrown him into a tailspin had yet to be determined.

At earliest if things keep going the way they were the experts could optimistically estimated six months before he would be fit enough to return to his normal level of activity, at the furthest a year… But there was still a very real possibility that he might never return to full health.

There was still too many unknowns and it was early days yet but at least it beat the alternative and Scott was beyond happy for it.

He wouldn't be burying his best friend today and if he had anything to say about it, it wouldn't happen for a long, long time.

Parking in an empty chair he sat in companionable silence and watched as his brother slept on, Kayo curled up beside him, her head resting on his shoulder and out cold.

He couldn't say he was surprised to find her here. What had happened had hit her particularly hard especially since she had been away on mission when it had all gone down and unable to do anything to help. From her reaction and by the intimacy they now sharing it was obvious to him that their relationship was far deeper than he could have ever fathomed.

It made him smile to know that one of his little brothers had found some happiness in the chaos that made up their lives and he could only pray that eventually it would happen to the others too… though he was pretty sure that Gordon and Lady P were well on their way as well.

Extending his long legs, Scott arched his back and stretched. The tense muscles across his back protesting and he winced a bit as a yawn threatened to unhinge his jaw.

The last few days had sucked… or was that a week now. He had lost all sense of time and he couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten a wink of sleep.

Between worrying about Virgil, the general mental state of his family and his own carousel of thoughts it was a miracle he was still lucid but here he was. There was just too much on his mind for him to settle right now and too much that still had to be sorted.

The one glaringly obvious being Globalmax Chemical's CEO, the GDF and what the hell to tell the family.. If anything at all.

Gordon was well in the know at this point in time, having called in a chit with his ex WASP comrades. From what Scott had gathered from Gordon, WASP had been chomping at the bit to get their hands on the man Scott had nearly beaten to death so they had gladly stepped in to assist.

It seemed that his Godmother was still looking out for them even though at the time Scott had thought she was going to lock him up and throw away the key. She'd surprised him, that was for sure. All but pointing Gordon back to his old unit as a way out of the sticky situation Scott had placed himself in.

WASP had swooped in silently and with little fanfare Scott was out, the CEO was whisked away to some undisclosed location to most likely never be heard from again and he was back where he belonged. With his family.

He wanted to thank his Godmother but knowing that would put her in a worse situation than she already was. Scott was determined to do everything within his power to make sure her decision was well worth the risks. She'd gone to bat for him, unbeknownst as it was at the time and he swore he was going to return the favour.

That still left the rest of the family though and Scott groaned as he rubbed at his eyes. They knew bits and pieces but Scott didn't think he could bring himself to tell them what had actually transpired in its entirety. If it came down to it, Scott wanted them all to have plausible deniability of course with the exception of Gordon and on that train of thought most likely Lady Penelope.

Gordon could handle the secrecy being a service man himself he was well acquainted with keeping certain details to himself about his time in. Civilian life wasn't the place for it to be aired so he knew that whatever Gordon knew would stay with him.

Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward was a vault, and there was no doubt at all in his mind that anything would ever come out from that front.

When Virgil stirred in his sleep and Scott's eyes scanned over him and all the readings on the equipment around him. He drew in a shaky breath when he confirmed what the doctors had already told him and he reminded himself again that Virgil was alive.

He let out a little curse at his own jumpiness and once Virgil settled back down again, Scott did the same. Letting his mind drift with possibilities and outcomes he hadn't bothered to think about earlier.

What the hell was he going to tell Virgil?

Scott knew that playing dumb would be pointless, Virgil knew him far too well and would ferret out the truth in no time. It was probably best if he just come clean… but how to do it and better yet, how would the information be received?

He was stuck, pinned down by his decisions and utterly numb to the consequences except in the case of what to tell his brother.

That terrified the ever living shit out of him.

Shifting in the too hard, plastic seat he cocked a foot up on the edge of the bed and was shocked to see a pair of peridot eyes watching him. They stared at each other for a few moments, neither one of them wanting to be the first to disturb the semi-silence of the hospital room.

Eventually, Scott couldn't take the assessing gaze any longer and he looked away, flicking an imaginary dirt from his pressed, dress pants.

"How's he doing?" His voice was barely above a whisper, not wanting to wake Virgil and knowing he needed the sleep.

Kayo looked down the the slumbering man, her fingers whispering across his cheek before moving to settle the sheets higher up his broad chest.

"He's cold."

Scott summoned some energy and sat up. "I'll go to the nurses station, see if they have any extra blankets or if they can adjust the temp controls in here."

He hadn't noticed how cool it was, though to be honest he hadn't felt much of anything since his brother had taken ill and he'd tracked down the piece of crap that was behind it all.

Everything had just dissipated to a dullness he couldn't explain. Sounds were muted, everything appearing in shades of black and grey..well with the exception of a few things.. Like the eyes drilling holes into the side of his head.

"You need anything?" He asked Kayo as he pushed to his feet with a rather undignified grunt.

Her eyes tracked him, assessed him, saw through him in a way that had Scott wondering how much she knew.

His eyes meet and locked on to hers. Neither one of them making a move.

Something seemed to flicker across Kayo's expression. A micro movement of emotion that had he not been so numbed out Scott might have been able to decipher.

Turning, he started towards the door. "I'll be ri…."

"Thank you."

He stopped, looked back over his shoulder at her.

"Thank you for what?"

"You know." Her voice was poignant and direct.

Scott's eyes squeezed shut as the first feeling of something rumbled under his armour.

The soft pad of feet had him stiffening, her arms coming around his waist had him holding his breath.

The lilt of her accent brushed her ear while she embraced him. "For whatever you did… I know the cost and ..thank you." And just like that her arms were gone and she was back across the room, slipping once more into bed beside his sleeping brother.

oOo


	13. Scars

Veg-notables: This one was hard for me to get through for some reason possibly something to do with my muse getting distracted by something shiny and skipping out of the friggen room while I was being berated by an angry person on the phone… GrRrRrrrR After which I poking at it for 2 days and I think I have poked it to death… Result = not 100% satisfied with it but if I look at it much more my brain may combust.. so here you go

This is an continuation of my vegetable Virgil story line,

Thanks gumnut-logic for taking a look at this for me last night and your continued encouragement,

Obligatory whumptober stuff: whumptober2019 la-vie-en-whump

Blanket warning: Conversations and vague memories

Characters: Virg/Kayo and Scott

Whumptober - TaG'verse

15\. Scars

Enjoy…

oOo

Virgil blinked slowly as he resurfaced from the depths of slumber, his groggy mind coming back on line through the foggy vagueness of confusion and disuse.

His body felt stiff and oddly overused for some random reason that he couldn't remember. Like he'd been on back to back missions and had over exerted himself but he couldn't recollect the context and breadth of those rescues.

Fleeting images of flames and rubble hovered around the periphery but when he tried to latch on to them they skittered away like dust motes in the ethereal light of dawn streaming through a villa window.

As a throb of something in his temple made him grimace he gave up on the sluggy chase through his memories and shifted to his physical reality.

A steady beeping sound coming from nearby rang dully through his ears and as it counted its rhythm he noted that it seemed to be keeping pace with thump beneath his breastbone. His mind conjured up the image of a heart monitor, that with the stinging antiseptic quality to the air had him drawing the immediate conclusion of a medical facility but he couldn't remember how he'd gotten there.

The hard mattress under him and the feeling of rough sterile sheets further confirmed his findings along with the moderate pang of an IV catheter as it pulled at the crook of his arm and the itch caused by the medical tape keeping it in place.

Further assessing an oddness struck him , one side of him felt exceedingly warm and heavy while the other was slightly chilled.

Peeling gritty eyes open that he hadn't consciously realized he had closed, he looked down. He couldn't help the lazy smile that turned up the corner of his lips as soft, dark strands tickled his cheek and a sultry scent of living jasmine curled its way up his nose.

Kayo…

She was snuggled into his side, an arm slung sleepily across his midsection and her head tucked in tight to his chest. Her own chest rising and falling steadily with sleep, the limpness of her limbs suggesting she was buried deep within R.E.M and most likely not to rouse for a while.

Lifting his head took some effort, but he managed and lay a soft kiss on her crown, breathing deep and savouring her comforting fragrance.

With a little more effort, he stretched his arm across his body despite the IV line and oximeter on his finger and brushed a stray lock of hair from her face, slipping it neatly behind her ear.

Energy spent, he let his head fall back on the thin pillow and his hand came to rest over hers on his chest. His fingers automatically threading between hers.

God, what the hell had happened to him? He felt like the world had steam rolled over him a few dozen times.

Flattened, deflated and utterly spent all under a heavy miasma of fog.

'Breathing, just work on breathing for a moment,' He told himself and did just that. Eyes flickered open and closed as exhaustion threatened to pull him under again.

A movement at the edge of his awareness forced him to focus and concentrate.

Long, legs where propped up and crossed at the ankles on the end of the bed. Shoes shucked off, socked toes twitching periodically.

Virgil's gaze traveled along rumpled pants and a creased oxford to a crown of messy brown hair. The slumped form of Scott, hunkered awkwardly in one of the standard plastic chairs synonymous for hospitals the world over was just off to one side of the single occupant room that he highly suspected was the ICU by the array of equipment that cluttered its confines.

Concerned twitched at Virgil's brow at seeing his brother so unkempt and unlike his usually put together self. He posture looked haggard, worn in a way that his years shouldn't though Virgil knew those years hadn't been the kindest to any of them with respect to what life had thrown at them repeatedly.

Scott too was sleeping, but his sleep was not the unhindered kind that Kayo was currently blessed with. He could make out the twitches of movement in the low light of the room and the dark line of his brother's low brows spoke of a mind whirling with unpleasant imagery.

He'd caused this.

Scott always wore his concerns for his siblings blatantly, the fine lines and grays where evidence of that and Virgil couldn't help the pang of guilt for being the cause even if he couldn't remember the how and why of it.

Not be able to bare his brother's continued suffering, Virgil summoned what little energy he had and forced his leaden body to do his bidding. A shift of his foot and he nudged Scott's.

The blaze of discomforted that seared through him had him holding back a gasp and Kayo stirred, her fist tightening on the bed linens and pulling at his hospital johnny which in turn snagged on the packing that apparently padded his side

Virgil cursed to himself for disturbing her, tensed and instantly regretting it as an ache intensified and spread like wildfire during dry season across his lower torso.

Ow…

A memory flashed as vision grayed. A burning building. The red flash of his baby brothers baldric. Black smoke and stifling heat.

What the..?

He recalled a door. A big, heavy mental door. A glimpse of inside, snippets of long metal benches, lab equipment, an odd wavering and then…nothing.

"Christ…" He hissed out softly and sank back into the bed, eyes clenched shut. His pressed his hand to his flank and drew a leg up in hopes of finding some relief from the burn of pissed off nerve endings that where currently screaming bloody murder at him.

A warm weight on his upraised knee and a soothing gliding through his hair had him squinting up through bleary, watering eyes.

He was met by deep blue, filled with worry staring down at him as comforting, familiar fingers combed over his skull and a thumb brushed his creased brow.

"Hey, little brother. You in pain?"

"I moved." God, his voice was like gravel

Scott smiled at that. "Well that's an improvement from drooling all over your pillow." He reached up, flicked something on the head board that Virgil didn't have the energy to investigate.

Kay shifted at his side again. A long elegant stretch followed by a jaw cracking yawn and she was sitting up, the lovely spring green hue of her gaze scanning over him with worry.

"Hey, beautiful."

"Hey yourself." She said and brushed a kiss over his cheek. "How are you feeling?"

Virgil swallowed, his tongue felt like a block of lead in his mouth. He fought a moment to clear his throat and was thankful when Scott brought a cup of water to his lips.

A few sips and he eased back. "I'm okay,"

It was an answer that had Kayo head shifting towards Scott looking for confirmation one that would most likely not be his favour

"That was Virgilese for I hurt too much but it takes too much effort to say otherwise so…'I'm okay.' "Scott translated.

"You're a horrible liar, you know that right?" Kay said, turning back to Virgil with an eye roll as she fussed with his sheets.

Scott chuckled at the exchange knowing well the frustration of dealing with the engineer. "Kay, I paged the nurse but you think you could hurry them along a bit?"

Kayo gave a nod, slipped from the bed. "Sure thing, I'll be right back." Her hand lingered on Virgil's arm a moment ""Maybe I'll check in on Grandma too and leave the two of you to your own devices for a bit. She said she wanted to know when he was awake."

"Might as well, Grandma has been driving the staff up the wall with questions. It's best to distract her until after the nurse finishes up in here.

Kayo gave Virgil's shoulder a soft squeeze, a loving glare of exasperation and she was gone.

Scott grinned, his head shaking as he settled a cheek on the edge of the bed. "You got your hands full there, little brother."

"Ugh." Was the only response Virgil could come up with, his lids starting to feel heavy so he let them close.

"What the hell happened?" He winced as he tried to ease the burn that lingered by shifting position.

Scott wandered across the room, pulled a pillow out from a small supply closet, "What's the last thing you remember?"

Virgil furrowed his brow, tried to peel back the thick fog over his memories. The answer coming slowly and in spurts.

"Chemical plant."

Scott nodded as he came back over, raised the sheet at the end of the bed. "Globalmax Chemicals. Lift your legs." The transition from information to command was seamless

Virgil shook his head as he tried to comply but the effort of tightening of his abs to accomplish the task only added fuel to the banking fire in his gut. Scott frowned and stepped in to assist, sliding a hand under his calves and settling the pillow beneath his knees to ease the pull on his abdomen.

"What else?"

"There was a fire, Alan was with me…" There was a question in his statement that Scott caught on to right away..

He looked up as he tugged the blankets back into place and reached up to adjust the bed angle. "He's okay, shaken up but in one piece. You saved his life though he might want to thump you for it. Something about him having body armor."

Virgil rubbed tiredly at his brow as the bed shifted beneath him, sighed as the pain eased off a bit.

"Better?"

He nodded. "There was an undocumented fire room. Massive blast doors but it was near the storage vats… door wouldn't open..but then it did.."

Scott's eyes grew dark, something unpleasant flashing across them that Virgil would have missed had he not known his brother as well as he did. "Scott..?"

Just then a redheaded nurse pranced into the room.

8-8-8

Scott turned as the nurse flounced through the door.

Oh great… Nurse Ratchet was back on duty…oh joy. He rolled his eyes as she perked up at seeing him, thrust her double D's out and checked her tightly bound hair as she made her way across the room to Virgil's bedside.

Scott shuddered when her eyes racked up his body like he was a top sirloin steak waiting to be eaten.

It was a good thing Kayo was still out of the room or the laser beam war would start again and Scott was pretty sure he was done refereeing that fun show.

Kayo had nearly throttled the woman earlier and had Scott not seen all the signs and stepped between the two there would have been bloodshed…high point, at least they were in a hospital. Scott was pretty sure though that modern medicine wasn't advanced enough to put back together the mess that Kayo was capable of making when she put her mind to it.

Eyeing the nurse dubiously, Scott went over to the other side of the room out of the way of the top heavy, rather abrupt nurse and took up residence at his brother's side.

Nurse Ratchet did the standard check of vitals, pulse, blood pressure, temperature before moving to checking pupil dilation and jotted it all down on his chart.

"How are you feeling today Mr Tracy?" She asked without looking up from the chart.

"Mr. Tracy is my father," Virgil replied giving his neck a roll

Scott reached up and helped adjust his pillow and his brother gave him a small smile in thanks, lids drooping. He was flagging and Scott hoped this was over with fast.

"Any pain, My Tracy?" The nurse obviously deciding his last comment was irrelevant.

"A little."

Scott cleared his throat, the nurse looked his way and he amended. "You can take that as a 'Yes'".

A raised brow at the clarification and she made a note on the chart. "I see."

Putting the chart down she folded back the covers, "I need to check your wound, clean it and change the dressing, perhaps your brother could wait outside."

It wasn't a question but Virgil shook his head. "I don't mind."

"Very well," and like that she pulled up his hospital johnny to uncover his gauze covered side.

Virgil squeaked at the suddenness of the exposure to his person and Scott being ever alert to his brother's modesty adjusted the sheets enough to hide Virgil's dignity.

Scott's temper flared. "Really, a little bedside manner would be nice."

The nurse just tutted. "I've seen everything already, no point in hiding it now."

The comment only made Virgil turn a darker shade of red and Scott scowled but he withheld saying anything else for fear his temper would get the better of him.

The nurse had a brutal personality but she was highly skilled and from what Scott had seen very proficient at her job even if she was a bit too rough for his liking. Virgil deserved the best treatment and Nurse Ratchet or whatever she was called, was it.

Biting his tongue he put a reassuring hand on his brother's shoulder and watched as the nurse from somewhere South of Hell pulled back the edges of the gauze to inspected the jagged line of stitches underneath.

A soft curse came from Virgil as gloved hands probed the tender area and his eyes closed.

"Ouch…"

Scott leaned a bit closer to inspect the damage himself and held back his own grimace at the angry red flesh. "Looks better than it did" He supplied.

"Good to know" Came a pained response through clenched teeth.

The synth-skin mesh that had been grafted over the injury was doing its job of holding things together along with sutures but it wasn't in the prettiest of stages. The team of Doctors had been forced to remove some necrotic flesh around the jagged slice as the infection had progressed to prevent further harm to his sibling's already battered immune system.

A few additional trips under the knife would be needed in the coming weeks to implant more grafting but it was a start. There would be a scar for sure and no amount of surgery would ever be able to fully erase it existence. The mark would serve as a constant reminder of what their chosen profession had nearly cost them all.

It wouldn't be his brother's first one and would most likely not be the last but Scott figured it would have a lasting effect on his family as a whole for some time to come.

They'd all be marred in one way or another by what had occurred and like any scar it would take some time to dull but it would still be there. A distant memory that all one had to do was look in the mirror to see and remember.

A hiss from Virgil dragged Scott out of his head and back to what was going on in the room.

"I know it stings but try not to tense up too much, the musculature beneath sustained some damage as well and clenching up is only going to exacerbate the discomfort despite the pain blocker and numbing salve."

"No…shit…"

"Now Mr Tracy, no need for such foul language. I'm almost done."

A grunted reply from Virgil and a short while later, the nurse was snapping off her gloves and tossing them in a biological waste bin. Her beady eyes turned to Scott. "Visiting hours haven't officially started yet but they don't seem to apply to your family… I suggest you let him sleep and try not to agitate him too much. He's immune response is still compromised with the infection and things can easily go from good to bad in his current state so he requires rest."

The warning shot had been fired and Scott had received the message loud and clear. "Gotcha" He said as the nurse flounced back out of the room.

"…fuck me.. I'm already agitated." Virgil grumbled as the door swung closet.

Scott chuckled at that and helped Virgil settle again. "Well, she is scary as hell and I am pretty sure that your girlfriend might take a hit out on her by the end of all this but Nurse Ratchet does know her stuff."

A pained snort, "Coming from the guy that didn't just have to go through that… your words aren't worth much.. And really? Ratchet?."

A smile split Scott's face. God, he had missed this easy back and forth they shared. He shrugged, "It seemed appropriate.."

Scott crossed mental fingers and hoped, prayed that he wouldn't ever lose this camaraderie if all the dark things ever came to light.

"You have no idea what her name is do you?"

Scott faked a thoughtful look and gave up with a nonchalant shake of his head. "Not a clue…"

"No wonder she's brutal…" A yawn split his brother's face.

"That is a possible cause, sorry about that." Scott rolled back on the heels of his feet, shoved his hands into his pockets as quiet descended in the room.

Virgil's eyes drifted closet.

"I think Nurse Ratchet has a thing for you."

Scott gaped, "You did not just go there.."

"I think I did." A smiled turned up Virgil's lips though he didn't bother opening his eyes.

"Remind me why you're my best friend again?"

"Cause your only other options are the Terrible Two," He didn't elaborate further than that as if just mention Gordon and Alan was answer enough, "John on the other hand is way too smart for you to have an intelligent conversation without leaving you in the dust with a brain hemorrhage…that and you can't play chess worth beans.."

"I can too play chess."

An eye cracked open and looked at him with skepticism.

"Oh shut up and go back to sleep" Scott grumbled and crossed the room to slump into a chair.

"Stop sulking. You know I'm right." The voice was teasing and very, very tired.

"Shh.."

oOo


	14. Secret Injury

Veg-notables: This went in a direction I did not expect it to go.. As I woke up this morning inspiration hit me up the back of the head and I ended up rewriting the whole thing from a different perspective than I had intended. Scrapped over 1100 words as Kayo burst in the front door and demanded I write her instead of Scott and V… She can be rather scary and demanding..

Thanks gumnut-logic for dealing with me filling your inbox through I know this is not what I originally sent you last night and well.. I am expecting various hard candies to be lobbed my way..

Obligatory whumptober stuff: whumptober2019 la-vie-en-whump

Blanket warning: Hospital room conversations, a little medical jargon and some emotional turmoil.

Characters: Kayo, Scott and a sleeping V.. yes he is out cold but only sleeping this time.

Whumptober - TaG'verse

24\. Secret Injuries

Enjoy…

oOo

When Kayo returned sometime later the room was quiet again, the only sound that of heart monitor and the ambient noise from the hallway through the door at her back. The shuffling of feet, the squeak of wonky wheel on an IV pole as it was pushed by, the laugh of a nurse.

Despite the lightening of the mood, the lessening of the dread that pulled the family down there was still a lick of something hanging like a fine gossamer shroud over everything. An inkling of apprehension that tickled up the back of her neck and had her checking blind spots and exits out of habit.

Drawing in a deep breath to calm her nerves, Kayo crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the thick wood paneling of the rooms only egress. Taking in the now familiar space and its two occupants with a critical eye.

A top-notch ICU room with all the bells and whistles that money could buy. Temperature controlled, recessed linear circadian optic lighting, drone docks hidden away behind remotely accessed ceiling panels, an alphabet worth of med scanners and monitor, heated gels filled bio-bed with anti-grav capabilities, the works. Helped that the family had made several large anonymous donations over the years.

If the donations had been anything but anonymous Kayo was pretty sure there would be a wing with the Tracy name on it but the Tracy's weren't the type to flaunt their charitable endeavors. Stroking egos was the last thing on their minds, their only goal was to save lives in anyway they could so they used their money. Considering they had enough to buy a small country several times over, the hospital had benefited greatly from their generosity.

Now the Tracy's were benefiting for their own kindness and they had a fleet of some of the world's top Doctors to go along with it which she was eternally grateful for.

Virgil; the man whom she had come inexplicable entangled with, was asleep again. Propped up amongst bleach white pillows and snoring softly. Her eyes instinctively watched his chest, counter the length of the rise and fall of his chest, the tightness in her own loosening as the information in her head computed back as safe, alive, still with her. Thank God.

She noted randomly that the bed had been adjusted, most likely in an attempt to alleviate the discomfiture he had been experience since rousing from his coma, that he was trying and failing miserably at hide from her. She was well acquainted with his penchant to spare those around him from worry but really, after everything that had happened?.. Men.

Shaking her head at her other half, she turned her attention to Scott.

He sat hunched over close by, eyes distant as he stared off at the middle distance in deep thought. Elbows braced on his knees, hands rubbing worriedly between his thighs as if trying to wipe something off them.

Kayo narrowed in on the movement, her mind conjuring up scenarios and only dark things came to mind as the bruised knuckles finally registered. She'd missed that in the drama of her world coming unhinged at the seams.

She pushed away from the door, stepped further into the room and Scott's eyes finally shifted to her. No surprise on his expression at seeing her there. He hadn't acknowledged her upon entry but he'd known she was there.

"The blockers are helping enough." His voice though soft, was heavy with emotion but Kayo didn't comment on it.

"I know." She replied coming up the end of the bed and resting her hand on one of Virgil's covered feet. A physical act of reassurance she couldn't explain but viscerally needed.

"His speech.." He started and couldn't seem to finish.

"I know, Doctor's said there could be some neurological damage from the cerebral edema. He has no idea he is slurring or muddling up some of his words but it's gotten better since he woke up. Swelling is still going down."

Scott's head bobbed up and down once. "Nurse came by."

"I ran into her just outside, she filled me in. The neurologist will be by in a bit, she's just getting out of surgery.." Kayo stopped, unsure if she should continue or not. Scott wasn't doing so well and she didn't want to burden him more. He already blamed himself for GlobalMax.

She needn't had hesitated though, Scott already knew.

"They keep checking his pupil response every time they come in."

Kayo closed her eyes, a despondent weight settling over her. The news she had secretly been dreading, fears that she had been right about voiced and confirmed by Scott with his concerned words.

"Did he say anything to you?" She asked, knowing that if Virgil hadn't told her about his sight the chances were slim that he would have mentioned it to Scott.

"Not a peep but I suspected as much. The Doctors did warn us." Scott looked down, rubbed once more at his battered fists, flicked his glance at the growing medi-chart that hung off the end of the bed.

Kayo watched Scott worry away at his hands, his apprehension tightening his shoulders, distorting his usually impeccable posture. "Have you put any ice on those?" She queried, shock spearing through his eyes as they shot up to hers.

She leaned on the bed by Virgil's feet, hands in her lap playing with loose thread of her sweater. "He might not be able to see the damage, Scott but I certainly can." She waited a beat, "So can the others, mind you they won't ask but they're worried about you and so am I."

Something flashed in his eyes at that, something she hadn't seen in a long time as his vibrant blue gaze jetted up to hers and skittered away again.

Her own pulse kicked at the look but it was an instant only. Something that would never be followed through on or explored. It was from a childish youth years before she knew the truth of her adult self. The strength of her feelings for the sleeping man quietly snoring at her back. His leg resting against her spine, residual heat from his fading fever radiating through her clothing and warming her skin.

Had she known then what she did now, that wellspring of youthful emotion would have fizzled to non-existence but that was the journey of life. To experience its highs and it lows, and to see how far one could go in either direction without breaking or succumbing. She'd found her peak, the pinnacle of her high and it was interwoven intricately with the mind behind loving, steady, sable brown eyes.

Scott's athletic shoulders shrugged, not as wide as his brothers but just as able in a rescue. They carried many a burden, had sagged slightly under pressure but held firm time and again to whatever life threw at them. This time though she wasn't too sure as doubt glossed over their resilience, maybe this time it would be too much.

"You really should get them tended." She was well versed in the pain he was most likely experiencing having had her fair share of tussles over the years. Some she'd won, some she'd lost but the pain in one's hands was always the same. Bone deep and achy.

"I will..just…". His attention turned to Virgil. Scott hadn't left his side since his return from wherever he had disappeared to but Kayo had her suspicions. The haunted look in his eyes told her plenty.

"Scott," Kayo put a hand in his jumping knee, the one she was sure he hadn't been aware danced up and down when he was overly tired and distraught. It stopped its mad jitter, his piercing blue turned back to her. "When was the last time you slept?"

He'd comforted her during her time of need, now it was her turn to do the same in whatever small way he would allow. She knew it was hard for him to admit needing it, a task usually delegated to Virgil to suss out but he wasn't up to it and it would be sometime before he would be.

"I'm doing okay, Tin". A childhood name, one seldom used and a testament to Scott's current troubled mind.

"No, you're not."

His eyes shifted to the hand still on his knee and she lifted it, tucked it into the crook of her arm as she folded them again across her chest.

"I have to be." For his family, for the commander he was forced to be in the absence of their Father.

"Grandma was asking after you, maybe you should go and see her. She's gotten antsy since the Doctor's veto'ed her access to force her to rest." Kayo tipped her head towards the door. "I wont leave him."

"She made you come in here to get me, didn't she?" He knew the woman well.

Kayo's lips perked, "You know Grandma, always looking after her boys." She stood, offered Scott a hand. "It was either me or TI security and a tranq' gun. I figured I was the better option.",

Scott snorted, "You figured right since I could fire them all." He took her hand, groaned as she dragged him up to his feet.

He stood in front of her a moment, close and she caught a whiff of his aftershave so different from Virgil's but so Scott. An awkward beat and she stepped back swinging out her arm to gesture towards the door dramatically. "After you."

A slight uptick of a smile, a flash of dimples before a quick glance over to his supine sibling. "You're right." He said as he stepped past her, long legs eating up the short distance.

He stopped at the door, back to her still. "Kayo…?"

"Yes?" Her fingers combing through Virgil's hair, brushing the tangled mess back from his pale brow.

"..nevermind.." and Scott was gone, the door swinging shut quietly in his wake.

Not all injuries were visible but they hurt all the same.

oOo


	15. Muffled Scream

Veg-notables: This took longer to write than I thought it would.. but here it is.

gumnut-logic you are a saint for listening to me whinge and carry on.. Thank you for lending me an inbox to pollute with gibberish. ::hugs::

Obligatory whumptober stuff: whumptober2019 la-vie-en-whump

Blanket warning: Angst all to hell..

Characters: Virgil and Kayo V/K

Whumptober - TaG'verse

18\. Muffled scream

Enjoy…

oOo

Virgil awoke by himself. For the first time that he could recall in how many days, he was alone with the silence and he found some relief in that.

Relief that he didn't have to school his expressions against the pain that roved like a raging fire through his nervous system.

Relief that he could express his frustration without an audience.

Relief that he didn't have to hide the gnawing fear that was consuming him from the inside out.

He couldn't see but for fuzzy outlines, and blurred figures.

The Doctors had explained to those around him that there could be long term complications but only time would tell to what extent. He'd heard it all while they had talked over him to his family as if he wasn't there so he feigned sleep.

Memory loss, neurological damage of an as of yet undetermined amount, vision…. Oh god, his sight…

When he'd regained consciousness everything had been confused and disoriented haze. Pain one moment, drugged out numbness the next. He hadn't had the capacity to assess himself, the conscious effort required had been lost in a sea of opioid induced soup of non awareness.

When he'd dragged himself back out again Kayo had been asleep in his arms, he'd dismissed the blurred vagueness too tied up in the fight to live to be bothered to pay it much mind.

As time moved forward as it always did, he'd figured that the mist that seemed to cloak everything would recede as he grew stronger, gained more ground in recovery but there hadn't been any change and the Doctors had started talking long term.

Words like permanent impairment, and visual deficits had been said over his supine form as he'd all but crawled back in on himself and screamed. In his mind where no one could hear, no one would know how much it pained him, frightened him, bound him to an existence of needing help instead of offering it. Trapped, useless…a burden and a hindrance to himself and those around him.

What else could possibly go wrong? If he didn't have his sight, what else had and would he lose? The answer to that was staggering in its entirety.

Hours had passed and his mental list had grown. Simple things at first, avoiding the more prevalent one that he didn't want to acknowledge..didn't have the heart to accept. Art and its array of colours and brush structs, its materials and mediums of chromes and stone, fabrics and woods. The sunrise with its variations and gradients, nuances that he could be blind to. The ocean around their island home, crested with white caps where it abutted the circling rocks and coral outcroppings. The green flecked of chartreuse that caught in the fading light of the sun in a pair of loving, warm eyes.

He was going to lose it all…

Fighting his fear, expression pinched in pain and worry, he argued with himself to just open his eyes, that maybe today things would be different. Prayed that his sight had improved, that what he dreaded wasn't actually reality.

Only one way to find out.

Fist tight, body trembling he held back his frustration as the dim light pierced through his skull and singed his brain but still it was like viewing the world through a distortion, a frosted glass enclosure between him everything else.

Angry now almost beyond reasoning, he cursed and punched with what little strength he had at the mattress. The satisfaction weak as his heavy hands pounded into a bio-gel insulated matting. No lick of pain to focus his rage, to cut through the panic.

Annoyance, bitterness and discouragement enveloped his world and he seethed against it. Shattering a glass, tearing at his sheet, tumbling a monitor.

Strength hot and angry surged and then flicked off like a switch as it snuffed to nothing. Leaving him broken and spent,. Beyond repair…

Tears of disappointed ebbed and flowed over his chiseled, stub shadowed jaw. Joining a litany of others. Fingers rough, dragged and pulled at his hair in frustration and he wanted to scream. Oh, how he wanted to scream.

Curse whatever god would listen. Shout and holler his anger, his despondency and rancor but he held back. Clenched teeth tight, muscles straining with wanton release. His family was just down the hallway, outside the door, in his head. Holding him up, calling his name.

A hot, venomous curse pierced the silence, though it was said on a whisper. It burned the air bitter and resentful with its emotional inflection.

Falling still, tears smothered behind the heels of his palms that he pressed into useless eyes he shuddered amongst the torn disarray of his room. An alarm was sounding and he knew that he wouldn't be alone for much longer, a nurse or his family would burst through the door at any moment. He need to contain himself once more. Find his control in the chaos of the swirling mayhem of his mind.

A quick intake of air as sweet jasmine lit up the inside of his nose, warmed and encircled him. He tensed, dared not breathe for fear that he had been discovered completely unhinged.

Soft, warm, comforting arms encircled him, embraced his battered being. Her voice washed like a gentle rain over his scorched landscape. Solace like a balm to the damage wrought by an illness that he'd nearly succumb to.

"It's okay, We'll figure this out. You're not alone…"

And he wasn't.

8-8-8

She'd wondered how long it would take him to fall apart as she sat in the dark and watched him sleep.

Hours, days, weeks? He could be a stubborn man when he put his mind to it. Immovable and unshakable. This? This was different.

Something that he couldn't fix or put back together with a work shop full of tools. Finesse and cajole broken bits of machinery to function in some capacity or another.

This was something that could only right itself if and when his body wanted to.

She knew by the by the shift in his breathing, the slight hitch as a groggy mind resurfaced that he was awake but she didn't announce herself waiting instead for him to seek her out.

It surprised her when he didn't and it shocked her to realize he had no idea she was there. So instead she bore down on her control, steeled herself, remeasured the cadence of her breathing to a light pull in and out. Quieted to invisibility and waited.

Kayo could tell he was struggling and that there was a real need to release the tension that was building. Knew without a shadow of doubt that if her presence was known the restraint would return, and the outlet would be lost. Virgil would hide his weakness away to preserve the image of stability and stoutness of mind.

It wasn't sustainable so she played witness as his wrestled mentally with his demons. There was no way she would let him suffer alone, even if he was unaware of her, she would stay close and offer silent support.

Rage like nothing she had seen before spewed out of him in a sudden explosion of emotion.

The rolling utility table went one way, flying into medical equipment. A monitor crashed to the floor is a tangle of wires, one long droning shriek sounding out as it's power cord was ripped viciously from the wall.

A jug of iced water went the opposite way, it contents spraying out and over everything in it path. Ice cubes skittering across the floor, pinging off the legs of chairs and bouncing off the rubberized baseboard that ran the circumference of the room.

It was over almost as soon as it had begun. Energy spent in one epic burst of outrage and disappointment as he racked trembling hands through brown, sodden locks. Rubbing angrily at his eyes, a sound of mourning, low and keening ripped from his throat and stopped with a suddenness that had her on her feet in seconds.

Her long, lean legs ate up the short distance between them. Her arms coming up and around before she even knew what she was doing. The only thoughts in her head were to comfort, to protect…

After a moment of stunned silence and eerie stillness he latched onto her like a drowning man. Arms tight and unforgiving, face pressed into her neck. Breathe panting, shoulders shaking.

Kayo's gaze sept around the room, at the destruction brought on in a moment of distress and her heart ached. Such anguish in so brief a release.

The rooms darkness abruptly split as the door swung open. The entry filled with worried faces that Kayo forestalled easily with an upraised hand.

A duty nurse, an on-call doctor, family and friends, concerns both professionally and personally marred their expressions but they heeded her command and didn't cross the threshold.

Her eyes made contact with Scott's and in those few short seconds a message passed between them as she arched an imploring brow.

He turned to the others, his voice low but clear and ushered them away. The light faded as the door swung closed once more.

They sat in the silence, time ticking slowly away. Resentment dissipating to be replaced with an inert quietness that was pervasive and a complete juxtaposition to just moments prior.

The skin prickled with the charge that hung in the air even in the sudden quietude and Kayo forced her lungs to settle, even out hoping the action would pass over to Virgil.

Little by little it did.

Pulling back, she caught his chin and brought his face up to hers, brushed her lips across his brow. "Okay?" She whispered, attempting to catch his eyes as they tried to focus on her. The fact they couldn't flickered across his face in an echo of his moment of anguish and she reached up to touch his cheek.

He leant into her as if her touch was keeping him alive and bobbed his head once . "Ya, I'm…sorry about…." His hand waved about to indicate the room at large

Her fingers skimmed over the line of his jaw, curved up the cup the back of his head. "I get it, you don't have to apologize to me for feeling the way you do. We all have our limits."

His chin dipped in embarrassment and she ducked down so she could see his face, a flush darkening his cheeks. "Hey," She called gently, "Hey, none of that now. There is nothing to be ashamed off. Frankly I am surprised you lasted as long as you did, especially with Nurse Buxom around."

She grinned as she caught the edge of a smile grace his lips and a huff of what she thought was a chuckle. "What?" She asked, puzzled at the sudden change.

"Scott calls her Nurse Ratchet." That roguish smile of his light up his face, not quite reaching his eyes but it was a vast improvement. "But I think I like Buxom better. Puts all sorts of pictures in my head."

Kayo grumbled and Virgil chuckled softly.

"Watch it Buster or I'll put you back in a coma." But she was smiling too as he leaned his forehead against her own.

There was still a lot of unknowns and they had a fight ahead of them but they had each other and a hallway full of people there to help and with that sort of support, anything was possible.

oOo


	16. Laced and Beaten

Veg-notables: Playing catch up on prompts.. Here a go.

gumnut-logic ::sneak attack part 2…::

Obligatory whumptober stuff: whumptober2019 la-vie-en-whump

Blanket warning: wet, dark alley…

Disclaimer: The song isn't mine so don't sue me. I make no money off of this. See end for further details

Characters: Scott

Whumptober - TaG'verse

21\. Laced drink and 28. Beaten

Enjoy…

oOo

Well this day had gone to hell in a hand-basket faster than he would have preferred. Like seriously, was his luck really this bad or had fate just decided to rear up and hit him in the face at random?

Groaning, Scott rolled over. Hot breathe heaving out of his bruised and battered lungs in the cool November air.

The shiver that racked through him made every inch of him scream in pain and he tried to clamp down on the autonomic response to the filthy water that had seeped through the fine cotton of his tattered shirt and soiled his jeans.

The useless iron of an out of whack sewer grate dug into the small of his back and did little to drain the two inch deep puddle that currently resided in the heaved and sunken asphalt.

Summoning the strength to move just a couple inches sent even more waves of agony through him and he couldn't help the laugh that burst from his split and bleeding lips The absurdity of it all was astronomically comical to his probably concussed mind.

"Hoorah". He shouted into the darkness of the fetid alley and laughed hysterically.

His ribs protested the action loudly and he moaned rolling over onto his back. Sweat beading across his brow as the world went topsy-turvy.

The water crept up his back, soaking in and chilling his skin.

The huff of his breath fanned out in the air in little clouds of white. Colour shifting, distorting it as a neon marquee flashed and danced at the end of the alley advertising 'Girls, Girls, Girls.'

The sky over head was dark, brooding with churning inky clouds and as he watched them shift across the space between the two buildings fat drops of icy rain started to fall with renewed effort.

He barked out another laugh as he lay, cold, beaten and disoriented. Those sneaky bastards had gotten him good. He hadn't seen it coming. Never would have thought that he was being followed on his first foray out of the hospital in a week. Desperate for some fresh air, a distraction and something other than the weak cafeteria coffee he'd been living off.

A need for drink, in a tumbler on the rocks had lead him down to this area of disrepute but it had been close, within walking distance and the idea of confining himself in a car to go anywhere else had been too much for him to handle.

He needed the open, brisk air on his face, the wind in his hair and he'd found it…

Though as he lay in a puddle in a dark alley this was not what he had in mind.

The drug that course through his system made the edges of his vision grey out and he knew he had to some how keep himself this side of conscious.

The small, childish voice in his ear called his name and told him to hold on and that help was on the way wasn't really helping all that much. It nattered away at his brain and had him fumbling to remove the small bud from his ear, effectively silencing her.

A song sprung to mind, brushing aside the curtains that lay over his memories, long buried words surging to the front from a life he'd left behind to fly the skies with his family.

He started out quiet at first, humming the song off tune and he could see the face of a dark haired brother, wincing in his head.

The words followed, slurred at first and growing stronger as the cob webs cleared and the memories of barracks and the rowdy bustle of pilots on a weeks furlough but he hadn't gone home. He'd stayed on base.

Not wanting to argue with his father, not wanting to see the disappointed faces of his brothers as he stormed out the door. Not wanting to see the flash of green eyes.. So long ago it had all been.

The song grew in volume until he was all but yelling it at the top of his lungs. Laughter intermix with anger, frustration and something darker echoed along the dirty, garbage strewn alleyway.

"Off we go into the wild blue yonder,

Climbing high into the sun;

Here they come zooming to meet our thunderrrrrrrrrrr,

Climbing high into the sun….."

His words choked off on a cough and he tasted blood in his mouth.. That wasn't good.

He laughed again, deliriously. The copper tang on his tongue and up the back of his throat. What a way to go, he thought bitterly to himself. He'd wanted to escape everything for a bit, escape the hospital and that room and those machines. Escape his family and the never ending questions on what was going to happen next. God, he didn't know. He didn't have the answers.

He heard the dull thump of feet, heard the exclamation of his name in the distance. The ear bud, forgotten in his hand, vibrate with sound he couldn't make out.

And the world faded out.

oOo

Song: " The U.S. Air Force " by Robert MacArthur Crawford. 1939


	17. Abandoned and Humiliated

Veg-notables: Time for a little something different. The whump is getting to me so here is something a little more light hearted.

TY to gumnut-logic for letting me borrow her creation for this installment.

Obligatory whumptober stuff: whumptober2019 la-vie-en-whump

Blanket warning: Little brother's can be a pain in the ass

Characters: Scott, Gordon and a familiar face from Warm Rain.

Whumptober - TaG'verse

25 Humiliation and 26 Abandoned

Enjoy…

oOo

Okay, this officially sucked and Scott was well versed in the suckage category of life. He could list off on both his hands and possibly his toes…yes, his toes would be needed… the number of times but really the effort to do that was a little beyond his grasp right now and his mental faculties were liable to completely leak out his ear with the brain power necessary to accomplish it.

So really just "Ow" would suffice for the time being on the the scale from one to 'Fuck me sideways, this blows.' It was pretty high up there but there was some room for improvement…

His ass was numb, along with various other parts of his body making his brain register that he was definitely not in that alley anymore. That was a good thing, he was safe, warm and dry. Bad thing..yup, that was a catheter…that was pretty much the worst of it… God, how long had he been out?

"About 24 hours, Mr Tracy."

Oh shit, did I say that out loud? What the actual fuck?

"Yes, you did and pain meds have that affect on some people so that's the 'actual fuck' of it."

That voice sounded gorgeous and Scott decided he needed a face to go along with it so opening his eyes would be really good idea right about now.

"Well, thank you"

Bright light was shone in the microsecond his peepers peeled open and a litany of very descriptive vocabulary followed.

"Well, I am pretty sure that isn't actually anatomically possible but..whatever floats your boat.

I hope you don't speak to your Grandmother like that because I'm fairly certain she would not be impressed…This might hurt a bit."

The soft probing of hands across his torso had him wishing he could sink back into the inky darkness. Mother fu….

"She comes off to me as being the 'wash the mouth out with soap' type of person"

Piercing blue meet foggy, drugged out azure and Scott forgot how to form syllables. Language along with a life time of manners completely abandoning him and left him staring like the tool he was.

"Hey, there." She chuckled, tucking the pen light into the breast pocket of her scrubs. "Was starting to think you'd never come around."

Scott just blinked like an idiot. Beautiful

Another tinkle of laughter graced his ears. "Well, that's making me blush so you better stop before the nursing pool starts gossiping and heaven forbid we supply them with fodder."

So maybe life didn't suck so much, Scott thought as he looked her over while she did a quick check up on him. Pale skin on a fine featured, delicate face, full bodied lips and a little up-tuned nose all framed by thick waves of ebony, high-lighted with wisps of rich mahogany and gold.

"Uhh, hi."

Really, that's the first thing you actively supply to the conversation…'Uh, hi.' Wow, way to go, Scott. 10 points for originality.

A slender brow rose, her lips following in a cute crooked smile that lit up her face. "Hi." She replied, "I'm Dr Harris, you're care-taker during your stay at wonderful Auckland Memorial Hospital. If there is anything we can get you, our staff would be happy to assist. Now let me know if there is any pain. "

This was all said with a rather sarcastic air but hey, she was interacting with him.

Those questing fingers started the dance over his stomach again and Scott had to remind himself that leaning in to sniff her hair would be construed as a creeper tactic. Damn, these drugs, always fried his circuits and put him on the crazy train.

A wince as a particularly tender spot protested the invasion of small, competent hands. "Ouch."

"Sorry."

Annnnnd his brain punched back in from its lunch break, about freaking time. "Pleasure to meet you Doctor Harris, will I live?"

A flash of those vibrant eyes again and she checked his charts. "Well, heart rate is good, O2 levels could be a bit better but we can chalk that up to exhaustion. Some bruising, a mild concussion and a few cracked ribs.. Verdicts in, you and sleazy bars shouldn't mix but yes. You will live to fight another day."

"Fantastic." He commented, letting his head fall back on his pillow. "Note to self, no frequenting sleazy bars. Never thought I would have to say that.."

"You had a very interesting blood alcohol level. If it wasn't for your physique and your liver one such as myself might think you have a problem but under the circumstances.." She let the rest drift off.

Scott averted his gaze from hers as he was reminded about why they had come to the mainland in the first place…

"I hear he's doing better." It was said without any emotional inflection attached, a comment said out of courtesy. It wasn't like his whole family being present was a big secret or anything… nope, not at all…though with the media out front he hoped it didn't manage to find its way past the door.

"Out of the woods." Scott sighed, but still far from home.

Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully at that, as if she picked up on the words not being said and decided it was better to shift away from the topic. It wasn't her business and she was a professional.

She jotted a note down in his chart, and scooted around to the other side of the bed to check his IV line.

He hadn't noticed the little 'scoot she was zipping around on. Quite the ingenious little piece of equipment. Small, compact and made barely a whisper of noise as it carried her about the confined space of the room.

She caught his eyes following her and her shoulders seemed to tighten, square off as if she was expecting a comment and was gearing up for a fight.

"I was just…"

She fiddled with the IV bag, switched it out for a new one. "This has no bearing on my skills."

Picking up on the defensiveness of her posture, he eased off a bit. "I'm sure it doesn't."

Silence settled and the tension made things awkward. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything by…"'

She plowed right over top of him

"Anyway, we've flushed the bulk of the alcohol out of your bloodstream and whatever those idiots pumped into you as well." There was a lick of anger in there and a flash of something else that Scott wasn't sure how to interpret. "You'll be right as rain in no time."

"Um.. great."

Shit, he'd certainly stepped it in with her. Way to go Tracy.

Pulling himself from his thoughts he plastered on a charming smile and noted by the suspicious looked she passed him that the good doctor didn't buy it for a second.

"So, when can I blow this pop stand?

Doctor Harris regarded him a moment, her gaze making him feel like he was under a microscope and pursed her lips. "Well, I want to run your blood tox' again in an hour just to make sure that there will be no lasting effects from whatever they gave you lingering, get some more fluids in you too.. So say another four to eight hours for observation. You have a nasty bump on your head but neurologically you seem fine. We would be remiss if we let you out any earlier than that.

Scott nodded his understanding just as the door opened and Gordon came in with a take out bag of something that smelt suspiciously like Indian food.

"Oh, hey." Gordon stopped suddenly at being greeted by two conscious people and grinned. "You're awake." His gaze shifted over to the Doctor curiously.

"Gordon, meet Doctor Harris." Scott inclined his head towards the petite woman. "Doctor Harris. my second youngest brother, Gordon."

"Hey, sweet anti-grav sled. My brother V would love to get his hands on one of those to take apart." His tone was carefree, complementary and the tension that had settled into the room up and poofed like it had never been there. "Wants some naan bread, found a great little place down the street."

How in the world Gordon managed to do that, to read any given situation and know just what to say and do was always a mystery to Scott. Kid had a knack for it that was 100% natural and within seconds of him entering the room Dr. Harris was smiling.

Her smile sent a tingle of pleasure through Scott that he couldn't compute, The speed of which it had surfaced leaving him confused and baffled. Such an odd reaction to someone he'd only only just met.

He gave his head a shake, he must be imagining things.

He looked up and watched her interact with Gordon, trying to suss out whether it was just the drugs still in his system or not. Her eye caught his briefly, still shadowed by what she perceived as a slight caused by him but there was something there.

The intake of air, as she realized he was looking at her that she tried to cover up. He didn't imagine that..did he?

"So, Kayo said she is going to kick your ass once we get home. Something about running you ragged through fitness and tactical drills until you can't move." Gordon nudged him in the shoulder companionably. "Man, I would hate to be you."

The mention of Kayo broke whatever spell his brain had sunk into and he shifted his focus to the vivacious energy that was Gordon.

"Who and da what now?" He asked tuning back in.

"Kayo? You know, Malaysian, can kick your ass two ways to Sunday and after field dress a weapon in under 30 seconds with her hands tied behind her back."

"Oh..yah.." and his brain left the station again as a dark haired Doctor with bright, intelligent eyes made for the door.

"Uh. Doctor Harris?"

She turned at the last minute, gracefully swiveling around without a sound. The smile on her face was plastered on. A show of being polite but it didn't reach her eyes. "Yes, Mr Tracy?"

"I.. um..thanks.' He watched her, hoping that she would believe his sincerity. The wheels in her head were spinning and her gaze assessed him, trying to figure him out.

After a moment, she gave a nod as she seemed to find whatever she was looking for.. "You're welcome." And shifted to turn for the door again.

Scott grunting a bit and pushed himself to sit up higher on the bed. "And I'd love to buy you a coffee sometime. If that's okay with you."

"It's against hospital policy, Mr Tracy"

"Scott. Please, call me Scott." Eyes met again and that tingle was back, it was just an ember but there was a potential there. A potential that Scott thought might be interesting in fanning into something bigger, if she let him.

She seemed to contemplate the offer, hands idly tracing the edge of the data pad in her hand.

"Um…. so should I leave the room or something? I'm not sure if I want to watch this ship wreck." And then there were times where Gordon just didn't know when to shut up.

Dropping his face into his palm, Scott shook his head and resisted the urge to thump the brat up the back of the head. "Gordon…" He sighed the name with frustration.

"What? You were going to crash and burn anyways.. I was just helping you along. Think of me as you own personal love doctor and goodwill dispenser of unpleasantness. Removing the band-aid might hurt but it only stings for a second if you do it fast enough."

"How are we related?"

"Oh that's easy, when a Mommy and Daddy lo…

"Stop, please God just stop.."

The bark of laughter and the snort that followed had them both looking over to Dr. Harris. Her hand shot up to cover her mouth as if to hide the origin of the sound. Her face reddened and she cleared her throat.

"I'll be back in about an hour for your blood work." She stated, reaching out of the door. Pushing it open, she zipped out, paused and glanced back at the siblings.

"Mr. Tra…" She caught herself, continued again. "Scott?"

"Yes?"

"I'll see what I can do about that coffee" And she was gone.

A dopey grin nearly split Scott's face in half.

"Scored a date with a Doctor. Way to go. " Gordon held up his hand for a high five that Scott left hanging and him grumbling. "Spoil sport."

A second of silence, of peace was all Scott got before….

"Just wait till she comes back and gets a load of that catheter."

Scott rolled his eyes, his face falling once more into hands. "Gordon, shut up."

oOo


	18. Ransom

Veg-notables: Second last Whumptober post ::wailssssss:::

TY to gumnut-logic cause she continues to feed my muse and deal with me :)

Obligatory whumptober stuff: whumptober2019 la-vie-en-whump

Blanket warning: bit of swearing… actually a bit of swearing has been in all of my posts but I keep forgetting to warm ppl… oops. I work in the construction industry so a bit of swearing is my S.O.P

Characters: Almost the whole gang and an honorable mention

Whumptober - TaG'verse

27 Ransom

Enjoy…

oOo

"Thank fuck" Virgil whispered to himself as he stepped onto the gangway and carefully took the stairs from Tracy Two down to the hanger floor.

"Home sweet home huh, Virg?" Gordon grinned tossing arm around his shoulder and unobtrusively leading him toward the lift up to the villa.

"You have no idea."

"Oh I have a few ideas." He chuckled companionably as they made their way across the vast space. "Though you may want to re-admit yourself once you remember that hospital food is so much better than Grandma's cooking… less gut rotting too."

"And here I was just getting used to having a stomach lining again.."

There was a bark of laughter and Gordon and thumping him once on the back. "Holy shit. Scott you hear that? Virg told a joke."

"Will wonders never cease." Came the reply from some behind them as Scott exited the family plane with John hot on his heels.

Kayo appeared as if out of nowhere on the other side of Virgil. Silent as ever and Gordon sucked in a breath.

"Damn, Kayo. A little warning would be nice. Friggen quiet as a cat. Maybe we should put some bells on you."

She just rolled her eyes and slipped a guiding hand into the crook of Virgil's arm. "I got this, go give Alan a hand with the bags."

"Sure thing, Spookio." He turned back, "Oh, and we could put the bells on a bright pink little choker. You would look great in pink.."

"Not likely" She muttered and shooed Gordon away. "Such a brat."

"He's just blowing off steam in the only other way he knows how besides the pool." Virgil shrugged. He really couldn't blame him for the need with TI security and the GDF on high alert due to what happened to Scott.

Virgil also suspected that his younger brother was feeling a bit responsible for whatever small part he seemed to have played in things, though he wouldn't confirm or deny anything. Virgil didn't bother voicing this as he suspected he was purposefully being left in the dark for one reason or another.

Another thing for Virgil to ponder. It's not like he had anything else to do besides physio and the painful neuro-therapy he was being subjected to daily. It was also really starting to make him wonder if the Doctor that had been assigned to him was a secret sadist. Pushing him the way she was with a smile on her face despite his grunts of obvious discomfort.

Kayo seemed to like her though so there was that one positive working for her. That and the fact that there had been some improvement the last few days in his recovery. If it had been otherwise Virgil would have protested the torture rather loudly.

Turning his head he brushed a kiss over the crown of her head in appreciation for everything and continued the long walk across the hanger.

Kayo shifted at his side and he got the impression that she was looking at him "How you doing, Big Guy?"

"Happy to be home..looking forward to being anywhere but that blasted hospital."

She bumped shoulders with him playfully, "Me too" and lifted his hand to brush her lips over his knuckles.

There was still a lot to contend with still but things seemed to be finally heading in the right direction and Virgil took solace in that.

Canting his head he listened to the echoes of sound off the high stone ceiling, the hum of the machinery that sat idle and waiting for action, the shuffle of Scott and John as they brought up the rear. And the distinctive cadence and timbre of the Terrible Two as they starting pitching insults at one another.

God, he'd missed home. The sounds, the smells, the familiar settings and hopefully one day soon, the sights.

Reaching up, he pushed the nearly total blackout sunshades back up his nose as a twinge of pain flared through his skull. The overhead lighting was bright and it was like bolts of agonizing electricity to his overly sensitive, visual hindered ocular senses, a wonderful side effect of his condition and the neuro-therapy that was rewiring his brain and optic nerves. Yippee skippee.

"Headache again?" Kayo's voice was soft as they rounded the corner to the elevator bay. Pitched for his ears and his ears only, she knew he wouldn't want to alert the others to his discomfort.

He couldn't hide it from her. She knew him too well, was too finely tuned to the subtle nuances of his facial expression to be able to disguise with anything but the truth so he nodded slightly and her hand rubbed up his back. "Let's get you up to bed. You can take a couple of the tablets the Doc proscribed and zone out for a bit."

She wasn't going to get a protest from him and when he said nothing he could feel her attention zero in on him. Singularly focused. The worry palpable in the tightness of her grip on his arm.

"Bad one?"

He gave a shrug. "I've had worse but..this one has potential."

He heard the ding of the elevator, caught the blurry glare of twin metal panels opening, the flash of the interior lighting that had him grunting..

She led him in and he settled back against the wall as they waited for John and Scott to catch up.

The huff of discomforted had his head turning, ever the worrier himself when a brother was down and out "You doing okay there Scott?"

His brother was a mass of bruises or so he had been told though contrary to his physical state he attitude was surprising light as of late, floating up above Five for some reason It had been an up-lifting change from the sense of distress that had been hanging over them and the contrast seemed to make things a bit more bearable.

It wasn't until the mood had shifted to the more positive that Virgil realized just how much it had been weighing on him, pulling him down and making it hard for him to breathe. With that thought in mind, he pulled in a greedy lung full and savoured the salt tang.

"I'm doing." Came the laboured reply but there was an air of the jovial to it "Bloody ribs. Remind me next time I get the brilliant idea to take on a group of thugs to use something other than my torso for a punching bag. A concussion is more then another to deal with, the rest of this is just bullshit."

Virgil smiled and couldn't resist. "Well with how hard your head is it's really no surprise they went for your soft underbelly."

"Ouch, is that a jab at my fitness level dear brother?"

"No, just an observation."

"If you had used what was in your head your torso wouldn't have been a 'punching bag' in the first place." Came the very logical assessment from John. The first thing he had said since they'd set out for home from the mainland.

"Ya but what would be the fun of that?"

Fighting words if ever Virgil had heard them and he cleared his throat to dispel the growing tension.

It had been a topic of argument destined to be stuck on repeat since Gordon and John had located Scott in a dead end alley surrounded by three very unconscious masked goons. An argument they'd all had a part in, one that had finally had Grandma seeing red and losing her ever loving marbles all over the lot of them.

Reprimanded within an inch of their lives, they'd all gone off to lick their wounds but the issue remained. One of their own, their commander and chief had taken off to parts unknown. His subcutaneous tracker rendered useless by a very sophisticated jammer so they had no way of finding out where he had ventured off to.

His assailant had been well prepared, well trained but the one thing they hadn't taken into consideration was how wily Scott could be when enticed. They hadn't counted on him being able to defend himself with as much gusto as he had even with alcohol and drugs in his system.

Or that he'd beefed up his training since his stint in the military. He was a veteran that had seen active combat on multiple fronts, both in the air and out. Kept up his training physically and mentally and had the added benefit of a trained MI6 agent and Covert Ops specialist re-upping his skill set. So of course the guy could defend himself against three very determined individuals who had wanted to take him alive for whatever reason.

The GDF had been livid, the local law enforcement baffled and Grandma had gone on the warpath. So here they all were, back on the island where security could be assured.

Might have been A.M.A but when Sally Tracy put her foot down, there was nothing that could move it…even stubborn brothers that should know better.

Sighing as Scott and John started snipping at each other like teenagers Virgil braced for another onslaught of 'what ifs' and 'should haves' warfare.

Luckily for them, the elevator doors opened up. Unfortunately it was on the lounge level and Grandma was standing front and center, her foot tapping in annoyance.

She'd returned to the island earlier with Allan and Brains to sort the medbay out and resupply the kitchen. It had been a while since they had all been home together and the food pantry had needed to restock badly. With two iR operatives down for the count eating while off island was going to be limited to supply runs as operations were temporarily suspended.

The GDF was just going to have to put on their big person pants and handle things on their own for a bit.

There had been one concession to their early release from Auckland Memorial and that the addition of a new member to their island home for the interim of Virgil's convalescences. One Doctor Emaline Harris was expected on their island paradise in the next few days to continue his treatments so prepping in advance for her arrival was of the utmost importance.

"Boys, please don't tell me there is a need for a repeat of earlier because I am not in the mood and I am liable to ground you all like the children you seem to be impersonating." The all seeing eye of Grandma knew all.

Virgil resisted the urge to chuckle and bit down on his lower lip to hold it in. Last thing he wanted to do was have Grandma focusing in on him. He would rather slink off to his rooms with Kayo under his arm and hide until the Dread Doctor arrived with her torture device of pain.

Luck as usual, was not on his side. "Virgil, honey. How you holding up?"

Crap.

"Fine, Grandma."

"You look tired." And this is where the great Smother Hen characteristic originated…

"Been a long day."

"I am sure it has dear. I heard from that lovely Doc Harris that this morning's therapy was quite the grueling ordeal."

Kayo gave his hand a squeeze in supported as their Grandmother stepped into the elevator to ride it up to the living quarters.

"I've made some soup. I'll bring you up some once you and Scott have settled."

The thanks was said in stereo as Scott and himself replied in unison. The excitement behind their words was 'epic; and Kayo tittered at his side.

A hand brushed his cheek and he caught the lavender fresh scent of his Grandmother's lotion. "You're hurting." She stated.

If it wasn't for the fact that his eyes felt like there were about to fall out of his head, Virgil would have rolled them. Scott was over and on him before his Grandmother had even finished pronouncing the "T."

8-8-8

Even injured as he was, Scott could be a right pain in the ass.

It took some doing but Virgil finally made it to his room, he'd only had to submit to a quick med scan from a portable scanner for it to happen and Scott standing over him as he dutifully popped back a couple of the hospital's prescribed pain pills to do it.

Feeling logy as the drug started to kick in, he leaned back against the door as Kayo order the automated blackout blinds down and the in suite lighting to low before taking his hand and tugging him towards the bed.

He shucked his sun shades and tossed them in the general direction of the night stand not really caring if they reached their intended destination or not.

It had been a long, long day of medical appointments, treatments, travel and family bickering and his bed was calling his exhausted and still recovering body home.

"Whoa. Not yet, Big Guy." Kayo said as she placed a hand on his shoulder effectively stopping his desired belly flop into his mound of pillows and the oh so soft duvet that was beckoning him.

"Sleep.." He mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I know but first the bathroom and then some fresh, comfortable clothing. After that you can crawl in and hibernate for the next few days. No poking, no podding, just sleep" She commanded and turned him towards the loo.

"You promise?" He felt like a child as she turned him to the bathroom and pushed him through the door.

She tugged at the hem of his shirt, pulled it up and over his head before sneaking in to sweep a kiss over his lips. "I promise, even if I have to guard the door to do it."

"God, I love you."

Her movements stilled, her hands stopping on the draw string of his jogging pants.

It took him a moment to realize what he'd just let slip. He'd never said those words to her before. True they had been dancing around it for months but with their busy lives and the limited time they actually got to themselves they just hadn't gotten around to saying it.

"What did you say?" Her voice was quiet in the stillness of the bathroom and he could make out the fast pace of her breath as she stood in front of him. The quick hitching of it as it fanned over the taut muscles of his chest.

He opened his mouth a few times, closed it while he gather his wits enough to respond.

The words had tipped so easily off his tongue and it shocked him that he hadn't made the time or found a way to say them earlier.

Taking both of her soft, capable hands in his, he brushed his thumb over the knuckles and he strained to make out the beautiful, fine boned features of her face.

Seeing no defined edges, just a blurred outline, he dropped his head and let go of her hands. "Nothing, never mind…" He turned towards the direction of the shower, fumbled as he tried to find the handle for the glass enclosure, stubbed his toe the edge of the vanity. Cursing a blue streak he parked his ass on the toilet and the next thing he knew she was in his arms.

Hands on his face she forced him to look at her. Impaired vision or not, didn't seem to matter to her at the moment.

"Don't you dare." She spat, anger and frustration bearing down on him. "Don't you dare brush that off like its nothing".

Her grip eased off. "Say it to me again." She demanded.

"I…"

"No hesitation, just say it". It was implored, the lilt of her voice filled with emotion he couldn't see in her eyes. "I don't care if you can't see me. I don't care if you can never see me again.. no matter what happens after today.. I love you, you big idiot. Now say it before I break your jaw and you have to eat through a straw."

He couldn't help the chuckle at her threat, knowing she was fully capable of following through with it if she so wished.

"Well now, threats of bodily harm aren't going to get you far."

"You wanna bet." She grinned, looping her arms around his neck and settling in closer to him, her body pressed in tight where she knelt between his knees.

Her tone grew serious again. "No matter what," she repeated again, dropping a tender kiss on his lips. "I want you to know that. Nothing could change the way I feel, nothing. So don't hide from me. There's no need to be the altruistic hero here, it's not what either of us want."

He leaned in chasing her lips, finding them without sight and sighed when he struck gold. The kiss was slow and gentle. A lazy sensual meeting that left them both panting. "No, it's definitely not what we want."

"Good." She booped him in the nose and pushed up to her feet. "Now that we have that settled, shower and bed for you because there is no way I will be able to pick your muscle-bound ass off the floor if you decide to flake out right here."

Deciding the likelihood of that was fairly high, he grunted up to his feet and finished divesting himself of clothing.

8-8-8

Showered, changed, snuggled into bed and blissfully numbed out for the time being Virgil sleepily smiled as Kayo crawled in after him.

"Kay?".

"Mmhmm"

"I love you."

Sight or no sight, she would stay by his side and if that was a sacrifice she could contend with, a price she was more than willing to pay, who was he to argue?

Pulling her in close, he whispered the words she wanted to hear in her ear again and drifted off to sleep.

oOo

Epilogue - A week later

Rolling over in bed, Kayo stretched out pleasantly achy muscles and blinked up at the sun lit ceiling. The dabbled early morning light shifting across it as the ocean breeze blowing in from the window and made the thin gossamer under curtains dance.

A curious look settled over her features as she pondered what was different. It took her a second to compute with her sleep addled mind but when it registered she pulled herself from the tangle of sheets, slipped into one of Virgil's t-shirts and wandered over to the open doors.

There was sunlight in their room. A room that for the last few weeks since they had returned, had been shielded against the intrusion for fear of causing a spike of pain to drill through Virgil's head.. Black-out curtains fully open with the exception of the light, whipsy sheers that sat underneath.

Stepping up the the open glass sliding partitions, she leaned a shoulder against the frame and gave her head a shake of amazement at what she was greeted by.

Virgil was leaning against the railing, a cup of coffee cooling at his elbow face turned towards the awe inspiring site of the rising morning sun. Its light played off the waves far below, flickered through the overhang of nearby palms and danced playfully across his skin.

Skin that glowed healthily, and warmly with colour and vibrancy. All of the six foot tall, buck ass nude, a hundred and eighty odd pound of it.

Saddling over to him, she pinched his mug off the railing and took a sip, her eyes raking over every inch of him.

He turned, brows arched as she stole his morning fuel and she returned the look. Though, truth be told her gaze had a hard time staying put on his face with everything all out and the wind and such.

"Hey, are we turning the island into a nudist colony or is this just for my benefit?" She wiggled her brows suggestively and he smiled, skimming a finger across her cheek.

"God, you're beautiful." He whispered, her loose hair brushing over his knuckles as it was caught up in the gentle, salty breeze.

Her smile blossomed across at the unexpected compliment and she was about to reciprocate when her mouth dropped open in shock.

His expression alight with excitement she stepped up to him, pushed up on her toes and stared into his warm brown eyes. The answering happiness she say in their depth had her gasping in elation and she jumped up into his arms crushing his lips to hers. The actions saying so much more than words ever could

His arms pulling her in close, the last few remaining tendrils of tension brought on by weeks of worry finally leaving with the morning fog.

Kissing the tip of her nose, he turned back to watch the spectacular display of light and colour as the sun reached ever higher into the sky. Pushing back the darkness and revealing a world that wasn't so scary after all, especially with her and his brothers at his side.

It seemed that he'd paid the ransom on his sight in full and the world had once more been returned to him in all its splendor.

The End

oOo


End file.
